Lost Souls
by Black Snowdrop
Summary: Sequel to Birds of a Feather: The events of the last 18 months on Asgard have taken their toll on Catherine. With Loki gone and life on Asgard becoming extremely tedious, Catherine is looking for a way out of her every day routine. When the anniversary of Loki's "death" arrives she's forced to face a chilling truth - there are some things that you can never recover from. Loki/OC
1. Prologue

**Lost Souls**

_Prologue_

_* Set about a year after the events of "Birds of a Feather; Epilogue" *_

Catherine stared dismally out of her apartment window at Asgard, watching the people go about their daily business. A light rain had fallen over the land this afternoon which was fitting really considering that some of the citizens, herself included had gone to a funeral today. It was certainly the right weather for it though Catherine was grateful it had not turned totally stormy. It was no fun looking out at Asgard with a murky unpleasant sky. She tugged her dark mourning robes about herself, keeping out the growing chill in the room. She would have to light the fire if it got any colder. Turning around, she headed to the kitchen and produced a bottle of the cider she enjoyed so much. Pouring herself a drink, she began to reflect on the events of the day.

She supposed that she ought to be sorry that she was unable to shed any tears at her mother's funeral today or that she shed so few at her younger sister's funeral, a few weeks before. But she did not feel any regret over her own feelings for the deaths. She had long since parted ways with her family and though she had been sorrowful about her sister's death, she felt next to nothing about her mother's suicide. If anything, her mother's suicide was something she could understand. More than understand, she could remember such pain and wanting it to be over.

Catherine downed the glass of cider and poured another quickly. Lately her life seemed to be filling up with deaths though it was fortune alone which kept her father and remaining sister alive. Despite the tragedies that had unfolded in the family, Catherine had no desire to rejoin them. She had no desire for anything anymore. Her goals, her hopes and dreams had all come crashing down within the space of six months. Wandering around the lounge, sipping her second glass, Catherine began to reflect on this year and everything that had happened. Funerals did that to you, they made you look at your own life. Well, Catherine told herself, hers wasn't that much to look at, not at the moment.

It had been ten months since her child had died inside her and had to be delivered stillborn. All the time, she was taken back to that day in the medical wing where she had been pushed through the throes of labour only to be handed her dead baby. A beautiful, perfect baby boy, he had been. Catherine had already seen his father's image in him and it brought back the pain of Loki's death even more. Losing her son on top of that grief had nearly driven her mad. It had only been the day to day necessities of life that had pushed her to survive.

She had driven herself from Loki's family as much as she could, not wanting anything to do with them. At first they tried to convince her to stay near them and recover but eventually they had stopped visiting her, realising it would do no good anymore. Her heart was forever steeled against Odin and his family after Catherine's losses.

Oh there had been times when she felt like she couldn't go on. In fact there was nothing in her life that was really worth living for but Catherine just didn't have that overwhelming urge to do anything about ending her life. She was just existing. Doing what she could to have a normal routine, pretend she was normal like everyone else. But all she saw when she woke up were Loki and her boy's faces.

She had named him Tyr Lokison. If it hadn't been for their culture of surnames, the child's first name would have been Loki after his father but Catherine was rather attached to the name she had given him. Sometimes she liked to imagine how he would have turned out. She imagined even now, a small raven haired baby with bright green eyes and a look of innocence on his face. Catherine took a heavy sip of her drink and shook her head. Thinking of Tyr was too much at times.

She had already had to accept Loki's death and had been struggling with that when she lost Tyr too. She could remember how devastated Frigga had been to learn of the baby's death and Thor too, had been touched by great sadness. Odin, though sad for such a tragedy to occur to Catherine, had never been an advocate for the pregnancy anyway. In fact he had continuously called for a termination and once upon a time so had Thor until Catherine had managed to reason with him. Even though the medics had said that unborn infant deaths could happen for many reasons, Catherine had her own suspicions as for what caused her son's death.

Odin's pressure had not been easy to live with knowing that he wanted a part of Loki dead. It had made her stressed and protective. Thor too, with his disapproval had not made things easier. Not to mention that she had been caught up in her own grief over Loki. She had lost her appetite during the early stages of pregnancy and had had high blood pressure regularly in the later months. There were many reasons for the cause of the stillbirth but Catherine was sure that essentially Odin's disapproval had cursed the pregnancy, with the pressure his stance put upon her. She would never voice it out loud but she held him the most accountable for Tyr's death.

She could have been a happy new mother by now, picking up the pieces of a life without Loki and raising her son. But no, it had not been allowed to happen. Sometimes she did wonder if it was punishment for her siding with Loki. She could never and would never find a true explanation for the death of her son and that was something that haunted her every dream. There had been a suggestion that the child's Frost Giant's genetics could have disrupted the pregnancy but in truth, Catherine didn't believe that any more than Odin did. Asgardians were strong though sadly not immune to such infant tragedies.

She took another long sip from her glass and stared out the window again. It was just another insignificant day, she told herself. Maybe one day soon she would find a way out of this world.

**Hey guys! I hope this prologue was a good info chapter on the time gap between the fics. I quite enjoyed establishing Catherine as a changed character without telling it through the process of the change. It will become more explored though with the fic about the events of the last year in more detail later. Anyway please read and review! No flames please!**


	2. Broken things need fixing

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter One_

"A lingering echo"

Catherine was not impressed to receive a visitor the morning after her mother's funeral. She'd fallen asleep in her mourning robes on the couch next to a bottle of cider. As she heard the knocking on the door, her head pounded and she sat up, bringing a hand to her head. She grumbled as the knocking continued, each rap of the knuckles sending jolts of pain through her head. She got to her feet and stumbled over to the door, opening it impatiently.

"Yes?" she demanded irritably as she found herself facing Sif. For a moment she forgot her hangover and just stared at the Goddess of War. What on earth was she doing here? For a moment Catherine felt a surge of anger as she remembered the row caused by Sif between Catherine and Loki. Catherine straightened up and tensed. "What do you want, Sif?"

"I'm here to take you out training for the day," Sif said resolutely. "Odin's orders. You've moped around long enough."

Catherine's eyes sparked with rage. "Moped?" she growled. "Since when does the King care about one citizen so much that they are forbidden to "mope" if that is even a suitable word for what I've been through," she growled.

"Odin does care about you." Sif said simply. "He was sorry to hear of your son's death."

"That is the biggest lie I've ever heard," snarled Catherine. "He pushed for the termination of my pregnancy. He wished this to happen."

"He did not!" snapped Sif. "He wished for you to terminate the pregnancy, not just for Asgard's sake but for your own. You were still grieving for Loki, you were not taking care of yourself well enough and bringing a child up in your mind set would not have been fair."

"That child was the one thing I had left of Loki, it gave me hope for the future. By causing me so much stress by trying to convince me to abort the child, the Allfather caused my son's death, make no mistake about that." Catherine muttered.

"There is no proof of that. Stillbirths can happen at any time." Sif retorted.

"I was under a lot of duress and you have no proof that the Allfather didn't cause the stillbirth by his multiple means of convincing me to get rid of my son." Catherine bit back.

"Maybe so but perhaps it was the child's Jotun heritage that caused its death…?" Sif trailed off, eyes wide as if she realised just which button she'd made the mistake of pressing.

Catherine reached out and grabbed Sif's neck, forcing her back against the wall in a fit of rage. "Do not try and pass the blame to Loki or my child. The Allfather was responsible and he alone. Although Thor did not help ei-" Catherine began, only to wince as Sif slammed a knee into her stomach. Catherine fell back against the floor in agony as Sif straightened up.

"It is clear we are not going to agree on this subject. Let us drop it and go to the training centre. You should take your mind off your woes." Sif said stiffly.

"Is this really an order from Odin?" demanded Catherine. "What if I refuse?"

"Then he will find a way to make you take part," shrugged Sif. "If I were you, I would do it willingly."

Catherine swore and headed back into her apartment to get dressed.

XMARVELX

The fresh Asgardian air felt good to Catherine, not that she would admit it. She walked alongside Sif as they made their way to the training centre. Catherine did not have much fighting talent and according to Sif, Odin considered learning how to fight a useful distraction from her grieving. She hated to admit it but if this hadn't been happening to her she probably would have said a similar thing herself. But as it was her, she didn't like being told what to do at all.

The training centre was a huge building with many large gym halls, all decked out with different fighting equipment and several halls were already in use by training Asgardians. Catherine glanced over into one of them and recognised the Warriors Three using one of them. Sif gave them a wave before leading Catherine into an empty gym near theirs.

Catherine glanced around as she entered and out of the corner of her eye she spotted a mirror. For the first time in weeks she got a good look at herself and saw what she had become. Dressed in all black training attire, she looked the very image of death personified. There were more shadows under her eyes, her face looked gaunt and for a moment she was reminded of the first weeks of her pregnancy following Loki's death. That thought alone brought a sudden sadness to her that she took a sharp breath to chase away to suffocating feel of grief.

"Are you alright?" Sif's voice broke into her thoughts and Catherine glanced over at her.

"I-I'm fine," she mumbled, turning to face the Goddess of War.

"I doubt that," said Sif. "You've only just noticed that you look like Hel?" she asked.

Catherine said nothing to that and instead began to wander the hall. "What is it that I'm supposed to do first?" she asked barely interested.

"We will exercise your muscles and then start the build up to training you," said Sif.

"Riveting…" muttered Catherine.

XMARVELX

The training was more intense than she'd imagined for the start up session but Sif had her exercising her muscles every which way for over an hour before they began the heavier stuff. Sif explained that Catherine's body should be flexible in a fight and so that was why they had spent an hour loosening it up and that they would do this every day, for every session until her body was so flexible that she was able to use the new advantage she'd have in a fight, without even thinking of it. Loath as she was to admit it, Catherine could see how that would be useful.

Next they began some weight lifting training. They started mild of course for the first half an hour but Sif soon had them using the heavier equipment for a little while before returning to the lighter equipment. She explained to Catherine that each session of weight lifting would involve longer periods of work with the heavier equipment to improve her body's strength capability.

Next came the athletics part of the training. Sif led Catherine outside to the huge track field they had and had her run a few laps around the track. She then instructed her to attempt some of the jumps and activities involving hurdles. It was another long and frankly painful hour but after that, Sif conceded that now would be a good time for a break. Catherine was red faced, sweating and so sore that for a few moments she felt like she was going to be sick or pass out; or worse, both.

"You did well," Sif told her as they sat on the grassy bank facing the track. "Considering how little activity your body has seen in a while, it performed quite well today. Soon it will be capable of so much more." Catherine was sat with her elbows resting on her knees, catching her breath and she looked over at Sif at those words. Gods forbid was that a compliment?

Catherine looked back at the track. Her body's soreness was fading away, replaced by an ache and with that ache, a feeling of accomplishment, like she'd been working towards something. Catherine closed her eyes and revelled in it. It felt good, it felt like a cooling salve against her hot skin, like being handed something to hold onto in a tempestuous ocean.

Catherine froze as she realised that for the first time in many months, she hadn't thought of Loki or her baby son. The most frightening part of that realisation was that she was glad of it.


	3. A glimmer of peace

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Two_

Over the next three weeks Catherine became lost in a sea of mind numbing exercise that soothed her grief and pain only to find herself on a desert island of cold remembrance and guilt by the time she returned home each evening. She would spend all day, pushing her body's limits, teaching herself how to be more flexible, strong and in a better state of health only to return home and spend the evening crying in her sofa, guilty for not thinking of Loki or Tyr for most of the day. Over time, she cried less at the notion but stared for hours out of the window in reflective isolation from the world around her. Her grief still hung around her neck like a cloak, choking her at night.

She had found it easier to sleep since she'd started training but in the third week the nightmares began; Loki shouting at her, Tor crying for his mother, wondering why she didn't care. She would wake, shaken and frightened by the images she saw. Only after some time would she sleep again. Her eyes began to show the shadows of her pain again and she began to see it as she returned to the training gym in the day. It began to affect her so much that Sif began to notice too especially in their combat training exercises which were slowly replacing her muscle stretching exercises now that Catherine's flexibility was much improved.

"I thought you were getting better," Sif remarked. "You'd been looking almost healthy a week ago and now suddenly you're starting to look like death again."

"Thanks," muttered Catherine.

"I'm serious, have you seen the shadows under your eyes?" Sif demanded.

"I'm not sleeping well!" snapped Catherine. "It isn't exactly something I can help unless you want me to start drinking myself to sleep."

Sif sighed and ignored the comment. "Why now? Has anything happened?"

Catherine shook her head. She'd started to not care about how much she told Sif. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. She looked up at the Goddess of War. "Nightmares," she admitted. "I'm having nightmares, okay?" she said rubbing her temples. "So I don't sleep as great as normal."

Sif watched her a little sadly. "Odin knows some great people who are trained to help with things like that-"

"No, no counsellors, I don't need them dissecting my relationship with Loki apart and…" Catherine took a breath. "I don't want to talk about Tyr either."

"Well maybe that's why you're having nightmares," said Sif sharply. "Because you don't let anyone in to help you and you are left alone with only your demons to haunt you. I can help you get fighting fit but with the amount of ghosts lurking in your head, I doubt you'd be much good in a fight. Think on that," she said.

Catherine shook her head. "Can we just get on with training please? This is the only time I don't have to think and all this talk is kind of killing the mood."

XMARVELX

It was almost evening by the time Sif and Catherine were finished. They'd trained for much longer than normal and Catherine had a suspicion that Sif was trying to keep an eye on her. This irritated her greatly; she didn't need a babysitter. But she was too tired for a fight and just wanted to go and have a long bath and try not to brood too much before sleeping. She hated her evenings but she also craved the sanctuary of her own apartment.

"Maybe you should think about moving apartments," Sif suggested as they approached Catherine's door. "It might help you to move on," she added. "Living with the memories is-"

"-all I have," Catherine cut her off. "My son was born in this apartment. I had many happy memories with Loki here. I can't leave it. I feel closest to them here."

"Yes but is that healthy?" Sif asked.

Catherine looked at Sif. "If it were Thor… would you move?" she asked quietly.

Sif's eyes widened. "I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do and I know you wouldn't let anyone suggest you leave," Catherine murmured. "No, I want to hold onto them for as long as I can. I don't feel ready to move on."

Sif sighed. "Alright but I think you've already began. You're occupying yourself for most of the day instead of lounging around. You said before that when you trained, you didn't have to think. Maybe that's what you need in the evenings too. At the very least you can stop dwelling on what's happened. Stay here if you want but you need to move forwards." With that, Sif turned and left.

Catherine stared thoughtfully after her. Sif had a point. If she could occupy herself in the evenings then she wouldn't be able to brood. If she didn't brood then maybe the nightmares would stop. For the first time in what felt like years, Catherine managed a tiny smile.

Being the Goddess of War Sif could be very practical sometimes but in this case, it might have been something Catherine needed to hear.

XMARVELX

Finding something to do wasn't all that easy. Catherine kept her apartment tidy so apart from an abandoned attempt at reshuffling things, Catherine wasn't sure what to do. She could try reading one of her novels but none of the blurbs seemed to call out to her. She was considering opening a bottle of cider and drowning her sorrows until sleep came but she was reminded of the one time she attended training with a raging hangover and swiftly put that idea to bed.

It was only when she considered just going out for a walk or a ride when she spotted the book tucked in the small shelf in her bedside table. She made her way into her bedroom and plucked it out curiously before turning it over. Her eyes lit up as she recognised the Introduction to Magic book that Loki had given her so she could study magic. A soft smile lit her face as she remembered their lessons. Admittedly they were lessons that had been abandoned but nevertheless good memories. She caressed the book's spine carefully and looked out the window.

She could renew her study, learn magic. It was after all what Loki had wanted and somehow it felt like it could be a good thing to do to be closer to him. Magic offered up so many possibilities. An impossible idea came to Catherine and she sank down onto the bed thoughtfully.

_I wonder if there is any way to contact the dead_, she pondered. _I would so love to have one last conversation with Loki. Oh hell, not just one. I just wish I could speak to him._ But she knew that wishing for that was like wishing him to be alive again. She'd never be content with just an echo of him, even if it was his beautiful melodious voice. There was no point in wishing for such things.

She would have to content herself with learning the art that Loki had wanted to teach her and that he had enjoyed himself. She opened the book and began to read…

XMARVELX

Catherine woke up the next morning in slight astonishment. She lay atop the duvet, curled up by her pillow, the book clutched in her hand. She blinked and sat up. She couldn't remember going to sleep. She'd been up late practicing the summoning of magic and then all had grown dark. She rubbed at her eyes and was surprised at how good she felt, at how well she seemed to have slept. Her eyes widened as something occurred to her. She'd had no nightmares. She felt good because she had slept right through. Getting off the bed, she made her way to the mirror.

The shadows were still there but she looked a bit brighter with more sleep and a slight smile played about her lips. It felt so good to sleep through again. She glanced down at the book. What had happened? One minute she was summoning magic and then next she was asleep. Perhaps she had summoned magic but it had been too much for her. It had been a while since she summoned it. She once vaguely recalled Loki saying something about magic.

"_It's as close to a living force as you can get. It seeks out its' conjurers needs and meets them."_

Catherine smiled a little more. She'd needed sleep and if Loki's theory was correct then magic had sent her to a dreamless sleep. She looked down at the book and then out of the window quietly. She felt much better this morning than she had all week and she had to admit, having her mind distracted had definitely help. Maybe Sif was right about keeping busy. Brooding all the time might very well have sent her over the edge into madness and she couldn't allow that no matter how much she missed her son and lover.

She showered and dressed before changing into her training gear. She felt ready to train today and even more ready to face the evening now that she had a purpose again. Learning magic would be her new future and she would do it for Loki. She surprised Sif by coming to the door seconds after the Goddess had barely knocked.

"Morning," Catherine said in a tone that was bright though not altogether cheery. She still felt like she had a long way to go before she could ever feel happy again. Right now she was settling for fair.

"Morning," Sif said in surprise. "You ready to go?"

"Yes, more than," Catherine spoke and grabbed her bag as she closed the door behind her.

"You seem perkier," said Sif bemused.

"Oh yes, I found something to occupy myself with last night," shrugged Catherine. "Not to mention I didn't have nightmares either."

"You do look less dead inside," mused Sif.

Part of Catherine wanted to laugh at that, another part wanted to cry or scream. Her emotions were still so bundled that she was looking forward to training today just so she could forget again. Nightmares and troubled sleeps were easily fixable by magic but the pain of a broken heart could linger forever.


	4. A family that heals together

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Three_

Two more weeks had passed and Catherine was now able to say that she was becoming quite the accomplished fighter on horseback. If by accomplished, you meant losing control of the horse and sending your spear crashing through the shed containing the archery equipment of course. Sif found it all very funny and couldn't stop laughing for a good five minutes before a disgruntled Catherine punched her in the arm in an attempt to shut her up. So it was decided that horseback riding was absolutely not Catherine's forte; which meant increasing the riding sessions to compensate for it. Catherine was so very much looking forward to that, not. She was a fair rider but wielding a weapon as well as maintaining control of a horse was more difficult than she'd imagined. Plus she was fond of the creatures and was always paranoid she'd somehow manage to injure her own horse.

Sif had assured her that she would get better in time. But Catherine much preferred the training exercises involving archery. She loved the feel of the bow in her hands and the sound of the arrow leaving it. Then there was the added bonus of actually being pretty good at archery. Unfortunately in terms of training this meant there was little need to practice beyond the necessary sessions. Catherine thought this grossly unfair but decided to say nothing to Sif out of reluctance to get into an argument over it.

Besides she had her magic study to look forward to. Over the last two weeks she had gotten so much better at summoning her power that it was now fairly easy to do albeit with some concentration. She doubted she would ever reach Loki's flawless and effortless summoning of it but it was a start. She knew she needed to start learning some spells soon but right now she didn't want to try too much and fail. Besides, there was hardly a need for rushing things. She had years to learn magic. She wasn't sure what she'd use it for but right now there was a focus and that focus kept her sane.

"It wasn't that funny," Catherine grumbled as they headed to lunch in the dining hall where Odin, Thor, Frigga and many other members of nobility were waiting. She sighed as she reminded herself why she had agreed to the idea of going to the banquet in the first place. They'd cut short their training sessions and made sure to shower and make themselves presentable. Sif wore her usual warrior's attire but Catherine had opted to wear the gold dress Loki had given her. So what if it was a slap in the face? She wasn't much for caring what people thought about her at the moment.

"Cheer up," Sif rolled her eyes. "Odin doesn't want any grumpy people at his feast."

"Then why did he invite me?" Catherine bit back.

"Because they consider you family; you know, being Loki's partner and all. They're just worried." Sif said with a shrug.

"Yeah well they needn't bother, I'm fine." Catherine shrugged. "I'm doing what they wanted, I'm training up and keeping busy."

"That doesn't mean you're fine and if this is you, fine then I hate to see you on a bad day." Sif retorted coolly. "Oh wait, I have."

Catherine was going to argue back when they reached the dining hall doors which opened before them. People were already gathered around and chatting. At the far side of the room Catherine could see Odin and Frigga chatting with some nobles whilst she saw Sif immediately make her way over to Thor and the Warriors Three which left Catherine all alone. _Great, drag me to a party and then waltz off, fantastic, well done, brilliant display of courtesy there, Sif… _

She walked further into the room and headed towards the sides, not really in the mood for much. She'd have to make small talk once the banquet started but until then, she decided she would just avoid people altogether. Her plan was thwarted several minutes later when Frigga approached her. Catherine just about managed a half reluctant curtsey to the Queen of Asgard before looking down at the floor. She jumped a little when she felt Frigga's hand touch her cheek.

"Catherine, I'm so glad you came today. I wanted to see how you are…" Frigga spoke softly.

Catherine closed her eyes fighting back a look of irritation. She had the most patience for Frigga. Frigga had always been fair and kind to her; supporting her through the pregnancy and just being there for Catherine in general but the onslaught of fresh sympathy stung Catherine's heart. She slowly opened her eyes again, realising how rude she must seem. She realised with a shock that she was holding in a breath full of grief and that tears had sprung to her eyes. She wiped them away quickly and looked at the Queen.

"I see I don't need to ask; I don't blame you," said Frigga. "People mean well by their sympathies but there is no such pain like losing someone you love and you have lost two."

Catherine took a shaky breath. How was it that, after months of reigning in her grief, a few words from Frigga would stir things up again? Catherine let a stray tear fall down her cheek and Frigga's hand gently stroked it away.

"I know it doesn't feel like it and believe me, it doesn't feel like it for me either but time does heal wounds. The wounds will always leave scars across our hearts but the wounds themselves heal and in time you come to accept what's gone and look to the future." Frigga told her.

"There is no future for me without Loki," Catherine murmured. "I cannot love another and I cannot… I cannot replace my son…" Tears began to pour down her face as she struggled to contain them.

"Nobody would ask that of you," said Frigga gently wrapping her arms around Catherine. "I'm not going to tell you you'll meet someone else because I don't know and I don't want to make false promises. You might, you might not but you would never love them as much as you love Loki. You know your own heart better than anyone else. But you should open up to us. We are your family too and we have watched you and Loki together for so long. If not us, open up to your family. Do not try and deal with this alone, it is too heavy a burden."

Catherine slowly returned the embrace and closed her eyes. "I'm… not doing a bad job… on my own…. I keep busy."

"Yes although that was Odin and Sif's doing." Frigga reminded her. "But yes you're doing better, a little better at least. But it doesn't hurt to allow a bit of help sometimes," she told Catherine, stroking her hair. "Because we hate seeing you in this pain knowing we can do nothing to help."

Catherine pulled back from the embrace slowly and nodded. "I just… I just want to feel like I'm able to look after myself," she said quietly.

"We know you can," said Frigga. "But that doesn't mean you don't deserve to be taken care of too."

Before Catherine could respond, Thor and Odin approached the women. Catherine forced herself into a respectful curtsey and looked at the men with blank eyes. Thor was looking at her sadly and she hated that look of pity in his eyes. She tried not to look at Odin too much, she was too conflicted when it came to what she thought of the King of Asgard.

"Lady Catherine, I'm glad you came," said Odin. "We've been very worried."

"I'm sure you have other stuff to be worrying about, your majesty, than me." Catherine spoke quietly.

Odin shook his head. "We have very little to worry about at the moment so we cannot help but worry to see a friend of the family in such pain. We appeal to you to let us help you. I have many people-" he began but Catherine cut him off.

"No, I can't talk about it… I don't want to talk about it," she insisted. "I am doing what I can. I don't think a counsellor would be able to help me."

Thor was watching her sadly. "Loki would be hurting to see you hurt," he told her.

"Well he made his choice didn't he?" The words slipped out of Catherine's mouth before she could process her thoughts. "He chose to let go, he chose to leave…" her breath hitched and she frowned. "I'm sorry… I should not have come."

"Lady Catherine, do not go," said Thor urgently. "Stay… you need people around you and you would be doing us a favour to stay." His voice was gentle and kind. Catherine frowned and looked at all the people. Thor followed her gaze. "You need not talk to anyone else if you don't wish it."

Catherine looked at them all. "I don't see why you need to worry about me so much… I-" she broke off not knowing what to say.

"We're like family," Frigga insisted. "We are looking after you because we care and because Loki would want you to be cared for. Now come, let's eat."

XMARVELX

Dinner had been a nightmare to get through. Catherine had made polite small talk and ate a fair amount so that she could be excused talking where possible. After a fairly large amount of wine also, Catherine finally excused herself and escaped the banquet. Bidding polite farewells to Odin, Frigga and Thor, Catherine made her way back to the apartment. She headed straight for her bedroom and stripped off the dress, emotions bubbling up insider her. She tossed the dress into the wardrobe and slumped onto the floor, sobbing her heart out.

**I was going to focus on some magic this chapter but I kind of enjoyed the Loki's family angle to it so next chapter might be longer. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Magic and mood swings

**Author's Note: **This chapter I've decided to introduce chants for beginner's magic and since there isn't really a Norse language available, I'm decided to use google translate to create chants in Danish. I'm aware that google translate possibly has some mistakes so apologies for anyone who recognises them. It's only a fanfic really. Also you can put these phrases into google translate to see what they mean, translating back into English changes the wording a little but it's still essentially the same phrase. Anyway thanks for reading!

Oh and a big thank you to **ferretfood **and **AlbertaxRose** for your kind reviews. I feel so inspired to keep writing when I read them and I'm glad my intentions are coming across well in the fic. Admittedly they do make me long for somewhere to rp Loki/OC but I do love writing this story.

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Four_

Catherine decided to take a few days off from her physical training for a while and focus on her magical learning instead. She was relieved when Sif had agreed to it since Catherine half feared the Goddess would drag her out by her hair. But Sif had said that Catherine's body could use some down town to rest a bit from the weeks of sudden new activity. Whatever the excuse was, Catherine was grateful for it. She was also happy to have more time for herself.

She devoted the first day to practicing her summoning and reading up on the theory behind some spells. On the second day, however, she decided to practice a summoning spell which seemed like it would be one of the most useful spells to start off learning. She looked down at the words which she needed to chant for the spell. She'd learnt that chanting was a big part of learning magic. When you were truly accomplished, you could use your power without chanting like Loki could. Catherine suspected it would take years for that to happen.

Holding the book open, Catherine raised her right hand and looked for something to summon. Her eyes fell on a gold pen lying on her coffee table. It was quite a stretch from the bed where she sat but she decided to try anyway. She began to speak clearly and loudly.

"_Kom til mig, bevæger sig gennem luften til mig_" and as she spoke, she began to summon her magic. She could feel the power rising up inside her like a wave from the bottom of the sea. She put every ounce of effort into pulling that power to her surface. She spoke the words again seeing that the pen had yet to move. "_Kom til mig, bevæger sig gennem luften til mig!_" She felt the power bubbling over inside her and she took a deep breath before saying again. "_Kom til mig, bevæger sig gennem luften til mig!_" To her surprise and joy, the pen rolled on the table for a brief second before flying through the air and landing in her outstretched hand. Catherine laughed with pure delight and stared at the pen. She'd done it! She'd really done it!

She looked up at another object. "_Kom til mig, bevæger sig gennem luften til mig!_" she called out, concentrating hard and summoned a pillow to her quite easily. The feel of the magic in her fingertips filled her with a kind of wonder she'd never felt before. Even with her lessons with Loki she had never gotten this far before. Catherine closed her eyes at the thought of Loki but for the first time she felt no tears spring, only a deep sadness but not even that sadness could take away the joy of her first spell. She was filled with a bittersweet feeling and she clung to it, it was something new. For the next few hours she practiced the spell and found that most lighter things were easier to summon. She found out the hard way that summoning the deceptively heavy vase from the other side of the room was not a great idea after the vase had crashed into the wall behind her and spilt water all over her bed. Once she'd tidied up she decided to try another spell.

Another of the easier spells to learn was a basic levitation spell. Immediately Catherine resolved not to try it with anything heavy and decided to use the pen again. The first stage of this sort of spell was learning how to make the pen lift into the air. The second stage was directing it wherever you chose. But Catherine decided to focus on lifting the pen first. She raised her hand and tilted it so it seemed she was going to lift something up and then spoke.

"_Stiger op i luften, flyve højt_" she spoke strongly, summoning up the magic first and then saying the words out loud. She watched the pen intently. After a moment it lifted up into the air and she smiled. She could try the second stage out now. "_Følg min retning_" she spoke and moved her hand to the left. The pen followed her hand, gliding on the air like a ship on the sea. Catherine stared in shock as she moved her hand and the pen followed. She relaxed, relinquishing the magic and the pen fell to the floor. She stared at it in shock.

_Magic… I can do magic…_ she thought to herself. It may not be much but it was a start. A warm contented smile crossed her face. She brought her knees to her chest, hugging them and closing her eyes, happy to have finally achieved something she'd aimed for.

XMARVELX

Over the next day or so, Catherine practiced the simpler spells she'd learnt and also began her studies on the different uses of magic; be it healing, combat, tricks or entertainment. She enjoyed spending the day curled up on the couch with the magic book, absorbed in the study of the fantastical arts. She lamented the return to physical training soon but when she happened to read a passage describing the importance of physical strength to give the conjurer energy to perform the arts, she conceded that getting back to training wasn't so bad. Not to mention she was starting to feel the strain of having used so much magic up in the last day or so.

Catherine pondered to herself if she'd ever get back to not feeling tired but then she remembered that all of this was a distraction and being tired was better than being awake and tormented. Besides for the first time in ages, she felt hopeful and a little bit lighter. Magic was giving her a new focus so she had no time to dwell too much on things that had passed. She had noticed though that she had stopped having dreams as often since she'd continued to study magic. Perhaps there was still a part of her that needed comfort in sleep which the magic was obliging.

It felt a little like having a teddy or stuffed toy to sleep with so you didn't have nightmares. Catherine wondered if she would always be handicapped by dreams of what she had lost or whether in time it would disappear. But for now she wasn't going to complain, she was finding it easier to get on with things now at any rate.

Another spell she had taken to learn over the next few days was the colour changing spell. It was such a small, insignificant spell but it provided her with some amusement to see her changing the colour of her book to different ones. Though she still used chanting, for that spell she only had to think the colour in her mind to conjure it. So her book ended up resembling rather crazy and silly patterns just to amuse herself. It was childish but Catherine didn't care.

XMARVELX

It was at the end of the week when Catherine finally tired of the summoning of her magic and decided to have a day off. She didn't feel up to training and going out so she decided to stay inside and find something to occupy her. This was easier said than done since there wasn't much to do. In the end Catherine just poured herself some cider and went to reflect by the window. Who cares if she drank in the morning? One day of just letting go would not do her any harm. She felt bubbles of emotion rise to the surface as her mind began to wander back to Loki and Tyr. A surprising notion struck her, one that filled her with a small sense of comfort.

Tyr was with his father now, in Valhalla, she would hope. Tyr had fought to survive in the womb so that was a kind of battle and Loki had been fighting his brother. She hoped that they were together. If she couldn't have either of them, she hoped they had each other. That way Loki could know his son even if she couldn't. She knew that Frigga had meant what she said about Catherine having Loki's family to lean on but that didn't stop the loneliness from setting in on her heart. She missed Loki, she missed him so much and her heart was still torn to shreds on losing her little boy. A child she should have loved, nurtured and watched him grow into a wonderful young man like his father. But fate had decided that Catherine did not deserve those things, apparently and so she was not to have them. Instead she was to try and claw her way out of the chasm of grief that had taken hold of her and blotted out her life.

Catherine brought the glass of cider to her lips and began to drink slowly. The alcohol was a comfort even if some people would think it wasn't a good one. However she didn't feel such an urge to drink herself into unconsciousness anymore. Maybe that was what Frigga meant by time healing. Catherine looked out of the window. It was nearly a year and a half since Loki's death, it was not long before that would become two years. Catherine's breath caught. In two weeks it was going to be the anniversary of her son's death.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she brought the glass to her lips again. How had she managed to long without her beautiful baby boy? What sort of mother was she, who could live without him? Tears slid down her face as she drank, her chest heaving with the sobs of grief that racked her body. The freshness of the grief and pain hit her full force and she downed the rest of the drink quickly. She put the glass down and curled up in her chair, wrapping her arms around herself and openly sobbing.

It didn't matter how much better she got at dealing with it. In the end it would always be the same circumstances; Catherine alone, her baby boy dead and in the ground with her lover dead too and no body to mourn him with. Catherine buried her head in her lap. Why her? Why had it had to be her? What had she done that was so terrible that she'd had to have her son and soul mate taken?

She sat there for a while, crying, letting her grief out and as the effects of the cider began to kick in, she looked up and raised her hand at the bottle on the kitchen counter. "_Kom til mig, bevæger sig gennem luften til mig!_" she spat and the bottle flew into her hand. She downed another glass of cider, amidst her own sobs and poured another glass. Her brain went into a frenzy, she needed more cider. She didn't want to be able to think anymore. She just wanted to stop thinking.

As she was downing the next drink before pouring another one, her apartment door opened, though Catherine didn't notice it at first, and Thor walked in as she was downing the next glass.

"Lady Catherine!" he said in alarm. Catherine whirled round, her eyes red as she crouched on her seat, holding the bottle in one hand and an empty glass in another. She watched him suspiciously.

"What do you want?" she demanded irritably. Manners be damned, she wasn't in the mood.

Thor walked up to her and grabbed her wrist, taking the bottle from her hand. "I think you've had enough!" he said looking down at her in worry. "What's set this off?"

Catherine sneered up at him with hazy eyes. "Joke's on you; the bottle's empty. I couldn't drink anymore if I tried!" A thought occurred to her. A spell to replenish fluids would be fun to learn. She could have as much alcohol as she liked, she told herself in her slowly growing alcohol fuelled haze.

"You were getting better!" Thor continued. "Why are you drinking like this?" he demanded loudly. Catherine glared up at him.

"Get a calendar," she spat. Thor looked confused for a moment before paling as he realised the truth. Catherine was not feeling charitable and she stood up on the chair.

"The anniversary of my son's death is approaching and quite frankly I have a right to grieve. I don't have my child's father to share my grief with so forgive me if I feel that alcohol makes for a very good alternative," she growled. "Forgive me if I don't want to think anymore! Forgive me if I'd rather not think of my beautiful baby, out of this world and out of my life!" she was now crying out hysterically and was still clutching the glass, only now so tightly that it shattered in her hand, cutting her finger. She swore and looked down at it. She jumped when Thor put an arm around her waist and lifted her down from the chair. He took her hand in both of his and removed the shards of glass, carefully before looking up at her.

"You need to go to the Healing room, there might still be some glass in the cut," he said and turned, keeping an arm around her as he marched out the room. Catherine began to struggle a bit as she was frogmarched out. However even for her new physique and magic skills, she still wasn't quite a match for Thor, yet.

XMARVELX

Catherine recognised the healer Haymer Nightlock as soon as she was brought in to the Healing room. She perched on a bed reluctantly whilst Thor explained what happened. Haymer examined her hand and looked up at her.

"Alcohol is not the answer, Lady Catherine-" he began.

"Oh shut up," grumbled Catherine.

"Lady Catherine, don't be so rude!" Thor snapped sharply. "Dr Nightlock, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise for me, I'm not a child!" Catherine bit back.

"Then stop acting like one!" Thor said exasperated. "We know you're in pain but there's no need to be so difficult."

Catherine stared away. "Oh I'm sorry. Are my grief stricken mother's mood swings getting in the way of people enjoying life?" she asked bitterly. Haymer ignored her as he tended to her wounds and Thor just shook his head. Catherine found that there was a part of her that enjoyed hurting others. It felt better than being the one being hurt. Catherine tuned out the conversation and revelled in the alcoholic haze that was taking over her mind. However she soon snapped out of it at Thor's words.

"We're trying to convince her to go for counselling-"

"I'm NOT going for counselling!" Catherine snarled. "I don't want be analysed by some therapist thank you very much. I know exactly what I'm feeling. I'm sorry if I'm not getting over it quick enough for you, but that's life! Or rather death… one or the other."

Thor sighed. "No one wants or expects you to get over it quickly. It's the way you're dealing with it that's worrying us."

"That's easily fixed you know," said Catherine.

"How?" Thor asked.

"Stop worrying." Catherine snapped moodily.

**Author's Note: **For anyone who thinks Catherine's learning magic quite quickly, please remember that she has delayed learning spells for a few weeks and has focused on building and controlling the magic build up inside of her. Not to mention she has had a few lessons from Loki too so because she's had that experience and has concentrated on controlling the magic for a few weeks, it's given her a little advantage when it comes to learning spells because she didn't dive straight in.

Also, I had fun with Catherine's moods in this chapter as you can tell. The girl should not be allowed to drink haha


	6. Memorial of a lost Tyr

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Five_

Much to Catherine's annoyance, the next two weeks passed by with continuous scruple thrust upon her by the royal family. When she wasn't out training with Sif, she was spending her evenings having visits from either Thor or Frigga and the rest of the time she was trying to get some more magic training in. She had to fit the magical education around her visits since she didn't feel confident enough to practice in front of people.

Nevertheless progress was being made but Catherine was distracted by the anniversary of Tyr's death approaching and had started to develop nervous habits of playing with her hands when she was receiving a visit, breathing into a pillow to calm herself down during magical practice sessions and kicking things when it came to her physical training. Eventually Sif grew tired of the nervous habits and started sending her home early.

It was the night before the anniversary and Catherine was sitting by the window with Frigga, looking out over the horizon. Out of all her visitors Catherine didn't mind Frigga visiting; possibly because Frigga had some idea of the pain that Catherine was going through and didn't make her do anything she didn't want to but also because she had a very reassuring presence that calmed Catherine.

"Have you got anything planned for tomorrow?" Frigga asked Catherine gently.

"I'm going to spend the day with Tyr," Catherine murmured. "I'm going to spend the day with his grave, take a book or something. It's the one day I don't feel like I'd be judged for practically camping out there."

"Of course," said Frigga. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you for as long as you need." The Queen paused thoughtfully. "Although, would you mind if me, Odin and Thor came to pay our respects too? Just for a little while. We wouldn't want to invade your remembrance."

Catherine continued to stare out of the window. "Alright," she said. "But no one else. Only family."

"Yes, only family," said Frigga before reaching over and patting Catherine's knee. "I'm so glad you've been getting better at dealing with this. We only interfere because we care about you. If Thor hadn't found you drinking like that…"

"Frigga, it wasn't the first time. Before I started my physical training, I was drinking a lot." Catherine told her. "I just wanted to numb everything up."

"I know but you were doing so well; Thor was worried that you would regress and fall back into moping and avoiding us all," Frigga said.

"I appreciate your concern, Frigga but it feels like I'm being watched in case I do anything crazy. I just feel so trapped," Catherine admitted. "In a way I'm looking forward to getting tomorrow out of the way. I just don't think I can stand anything else on top of that," she admitted, resting her elbows on her knees and her hands in her hair. Frigga instantly moved from the chair opposite Catherine, to the one next to her and pulled her into her arms.

"Catherine," sighed Frigga. "Tomorrow will be awful in some ways but in others, you will be close to your little boy again. Dwell on that, not the loss itself. We will stop checking up on you once we are sure you're going to be alright again." Catherine sniffed a little and her shoulders shook lightly at Frigga's gentle words.

"I'm beginning to think I'll never be alright again," Catherine admitted.

XMARVELX

The day dawned bright and beautiful in the early hours. Catherine awoke about five a.m. and got dressed. She wore a long sleeved black gown and tied her hair back into a braid. She managed a small cup of coffee before going to stand at the window and look out over Asgard. Her chest felt tight with anxiety and grief. She took deep breaths regularly to stop the tears coming to her eyes. She did not need to fall apart before she'd even left the apartment.

Tentatively she touched the gold locket that lay around her neck and had been delivered last night after Frigga had gone back to her quarters. Inside was a picture of her dead son. The servant had explained on Frigga's behalf that the locket had been withheld from Catherine until the family were sure she could handle the gift.

Anger pulsed through Catherine's veins at the thought of the royal family withholding anything to do with Tyr or Loki from her but she found it hard to stay angry at Frigga. Frigga had done this to protect Catherine but Catherine couldn't be sure that Odin and Thor's motives were that noble.

She tore her thoughts away from the family and opened the locket again. Her son looked as though he simply slept and was wrapped in a beautiful golden blanket. Catherine looked around the room and her eyes settled on one of the drawers in her wooden chest. She walked over, closing the locket as she went and opened the drawer. She pulled out the soft golden blanket and brought it to her nose, inhaling the faint smell of her baby son. That nearly did it for her as she felt tears spring to her eyes. She used the edge of her blanket to wipe them and kissed the material softly.

Glancing out the window and watching the horizon growing brighter, Catherine grabbed her bag and left the apartment, heading out of the palace and towards the memorial grounds. It was a brisk walk that took twenty minutes but there were few people about and it was fairly warm. By the time she reached the place, her stomach was tightened in knots and a heavy feeling lay across her chest.

Catherine made her way through the maze of gold statues, memorial plaques and other objects of remembrance. Traditionally most people were cremated in Asgard and the families kept the ashes but there were some who either buried their dead or planted the remains here in the Memorial Gardens instead. People whose bodies were never recovered also had objects of memorial nature placed here to give their loved ones a place to mourn them. Loki had a memorial area to himself in this place. Catherine had visited regularly at first but now it just seemed harder and harder to go back and gaze upon it.

Catherine rounded a corner and found herself looking into a brilliantly painted image of Loki on a large coin shaped stone. It was held up by a pedestal that was decorated with snakes and goblets intricately since that had been Loki's favourite prank to pull. Flowers bloomed beautifully around the edge of the pedestal and Catherine stopped to stare at them for a moment. She looked up sadly into the painted emerald eyes of the man she loved and took a shuddering breath, fighting the tears.

She turned and walked a little to the left where a small golden statue stood on a pedestal. The statue was in the form of an angel child, its body small and crouched with tiny wings on its back. Catherine took one look at the memorial for Tyr and burst into tears. She fell to her knees in front of the statue and leant forward until her head was touching the stone of the pedestal.

"_Lady Catherine!" Haymer Nightlock knocked on Catherine's door. She looked up from the couch and sat up a little straighter. _

"_Come in!" she called. Haymer entered and gave a small bow to her which she thought was a bit weird. It wasn't like she was royalty or anything. _

"_I'm here because you said the child had been quiet the past few days?" he spoke, his question mild but Catherine could tell there was some concern there too. _

"_Yes, I didn't know if you would be too busy to see me today or I would have come to the Healing Room…" Catherine explained. "Yes, I have some concerns. I was under the impression the baby would kick actively for most of the rest of my pregnancy."_

_Haymer took a seat opposite her. "Yes, well they do normally. Though sometimes they do go a bit quiet but if you like, I can take you to the Healing Room now for an examination, make sure everything's alright?"_

_Catherine nodded and got to her feet. "Yes, I would really appreciate that, thank you."_

Catherine's tears slid down her face and pooled on the stone under her head as she lay there brokenly crying her eyes out. Her hands clutched the bottom of the angel's statue now, eyes closed against the inscription on the stone beneath the statue.

**Tyr**

**Beloved son of Catherine and Loki**

**Nephew of Thor**

**Grandson of Odin and Frigga**

**Born asleep and forever missed**

"Tyr…" she whispered. "My beautiful boy…" she murmured against the stone. Finally after what seemed like immense effort, she managed to sit up so she was kneeling in front of the statue. She wiped at her eyes but it was no good for they were already flooding. "My poor baby, I miss you so."

She glanced at Loki's memorial. "I hope Daddy is looking after you… and you need to look after him too… because you're both my brave boys and I love you so much," Catherine spoke. Now that she was talking, she just couldn't stop. "I wish I could be with you right now but it's not possible but never doubt how much I miss you. I wish we had had more time together. I never got to see your beautiful eyes, Tyr. But I think perhaps you looked like your daddy. How else could you be that beautiful and not look like him?" Catherine smiled sadly.

"I sometimes wonder what you would have been like," she admitted. "Would you have been a lost sheep like me or would you have been magic like your father, clever and thoughtful and so kind…" Catherine let out a shaky breath. "I never got a chance to be a mother to you… but I can still try and be a person you can be proud to call your mother." She gently reached up and traced the angel's features on the statue. She could feel her grief washing over her and yet at the same time, she felt it pouring out of her, draining her strength.

"Loki… please take care of our son… please." Catherine whispered, eyes shut. "Please look after him for me…"

_Haymer stood over Catherine, running a golden instrument over her stomach. Catherine was glad that she didn't have to roll her gown up this time because the instruments were quite cold. She watched as Haymer's brow furrowed and he moved the instrument again several times. He paused and removed the instrument before checking it. He then ran it over her stomach again. _

"_What's wrong?" Catherine asked. "Is the baby not healthy?"_

_Haymer glanced down at her. "I need to check something, get a second opinion. The scanner might be playing up," he said hurriedly and left the room. Catherine stared after him curiously but lay back and stared up at the ceiling. Within minutes she heard Haymer come back and his face was pale. _

"_Catherine, please sit up," he said. _

_Catherine reluctantly did so. "Don't you need to scan the baby?" she asked. _

"_I already have. The scanner is working," said Haymer in a low voice. "But there is a problem. It couldn't find your baby's heartbeat."_

_Catherine's eyes widened. "What? That can't be right, the baby was kicking a few days ago, it's heart should be fine! Strong even!" _

_Haymer looked up into her eyes sadly. "I'm afraid your baby is dead, Lady Catherine. I couldn't find a heartbeat which would explain why you stopped feeling the child kick a few days ago."_

_Catherine's eyes were alive with horror and shock. "My baby died?" she asked in disbelief. _

_This seriously couldn't be happening to her, not now, not after what she had already lost. She couldn't lose her baby too, not after Loki. Haymer had it wrong, her baby couldn't be dead, they couldn't be. She would know, she was its mother. She'd know; mother's intuition. She could feel if her baby was alive and she knew they couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible. _

_She placed a hand on her bump. "No," she said. "No, they can't be…" She looked down at the bump as if waiting for some last minute movement but it never came. _

"_I'm so sorry," said Dr Nightlock. "The child's dead."_

_Catherine's face crumpled into tears and she released a horrible wild kind of scream. _

Catherine sat slumped against the tomb. Several hours had passed already and her eyes were red and sore from the crying. The sobs had abated but her face told of abject misery and sorrow. She closed her eyes wishing for a moment, desperately that this run of ill luck would just come to an end. Was it not possible for something good to happen for her, something that could truly make her happy? Well, besides magic which, at best, was a distraction. Was it really too much to ask for her?

Catherine closed her eyes suddenly feeling tired from all the crying. She shifted positions and slowly brought out a small children's book and glanced up at the statue. "I hope you can hear me or I'm going to sound mad reading this out loud," she murmured. "I never got to read you to sleep so, baby, on this day, I'll read to you now."

"Once there was a young boy who lived in Asgard named Valdemar. He was the son of a powerful noble named Einar. Now Einar was a proud warrior who had won many battles for Odin, the King. When Einar had his son, the kingdom was happy because the son could grow up to be a brave hero too. But there was one problem, Valdemar grew up with many fears and was not as brave as his father was. Einar would tell him he would be strong one day and fight in battles when he was older. But this would scare the poor boy and he would run to his mother, upset and frightened.

When Valdemar became a young man his father sent him to train with the army but Valdemar was very scared and would not fight so he was teased. Eventually he was sent home to his father who was furious with him and so ashamed that he banished his son to Midgard. Valdemar was scared and unsure what to do when he got there. He didn't know this planet. What was he to do?

When he landed, he was fortunate to meet two humans; a boy and a girl named Matthias and Karina. He told them he was lost and had no idea where he was so the two of them showed him kindness and took him in. Now Valdemar didn't know whether to trust humans and tell them everything so he lied and told them his name was Jarl. He lived with them quite happily for several years. Meanwhile back in Asgard, a god and a long-time rival of Einar named Kresten was happy that Einar's son had fallen from grace. He watched Valdemar on Midgard, pleased that the boy had turned out so cowardly.

However what he didn't realise at first was that Valdemar was falling in love with the human girl Karina who was showing him a new way of living his life without fear ruling his actions. One day war came to the lands where Karina and Matthias lived and Matthias was sent away to war. He asked Valdemar to look after Karina and Valdemar said he would. One night bandits came to the house and tried to kill Valdemar and Karina. Valdemar fought with them both, immediately wanting to keep his word and protect Karina. He killed them both and was shocked at his actions. When they told the local villagers what happened everyone declared Valdemar a hero because he had rid the town of the bandits. Valdemar was shocked that he had not been cowardly and run away. He then realised that now he had someone who to love and protect, his fear had gone away from him. He then decided that he would marry Karina and when her brother returned he asked him for his blessing. Matthias was overjoyed and when Valdemar asked Karina, she happily accepted.

However now the god Kresten was not happy with Valdemar's growing confidence and courage so he enlisted the help of the Midgard serpant to attack Valdemar the next time Valdemar and his friends visited the coast. It so happened that this occurred a few days later. Valdemar and his friends spent a happy day at the beach before terror hit the coast as the serpent reared its head.

In Asgard, Odin discovered that the Midgard serpent was active and forewarned Elinar that his son was about to die. Elinar went to Midgard to aid his son and was shocked to see Valdemar battling the creature bravely alone. Elinar joined the fight and together they scared the monster off. Elinar was astounded by his son's bravery and invited him to come back to Asgard. However Valdemar wanted to stay here with Karina and Matthias. Disappointed but happy that Valdemar had found something worth fighting for, Elinar returned to Asgard where Odin's birds Huginn and Munin had told Odin of Kresten's terrible plan. Kresten was banished from Asgard and at long last Elinar was proud of his son for it is easier to fight when you have something worth fighting for."

Catherine wiped tears from her eyes as she finished the story. She recalled Odin telling her, Sif, Thor and Loki that story when they were all children. She would so have loved to have told her son the story in person but she felt a little better for telling it now. She wiped at her eyes but the tears continued to fall. She sniffed and leant her head back against the statue.

XMARVELX

By the time Odin, Frigga and Thor had arrived at the memorial mid-afternoon, Catherine had fallen asleep for a few hours, tired from the early start and the weight of the emotion. She started awake when she heard footsteps and she looked up to see the three of them there. She slowly picked herself up and stood to face them. "Afternoon," she murmured.

Frigga nodded sadly and looked at the memorial. "It's so awful to see a grave that small," she said clutching Odin's arm. Odin was staring solemnly at the statue too.

"The worst tragedies are when the youth are taken," he said softly.

Hot rage suddenly sparked up in Catherine and she visibly tightened her mouth as she remembered how Odin had argued for the termination of the pregnancy and now he was mourning her son's death. A small rational part of her knew that it was easier to think of a child as a child after birth but the slight hypocrisy of Odin's statement made her blood boil. She bit her tongue, not wanting to disrespect her angel's memorial.

Thor placed a hand on Catherine's shoulder making her jump. She looked up at him quizzically, momentarily forgetting the fact he'd been like a watchdog recently.

"I'm sure Loki is taking care of Tyr," he told her.

Catherine blinked at the tenderness in his voice and she felt tears come to her eyes again. She nodded and wiped at her face. "I-I hope so…" she said.

"He would have adored that baby," Thor told her. "Nothing would have kept him from his son."

"Nothing but death," Catherine murmured.

Frigga approached the grave and knelt next to it, kissing her hand and placing it on the inscription softly and gently stroked across the words. "Goodnight, beloved little Prince. We'll miss you always, Tyr. You will always be loved." Catherine burst into tears at that and turned away from the scene. Gods be dammed would she never stop crying?

Odin approached the grave and placed a hand on the angel's head. "May the blessings of Valhalla be with you child." He said gently before helping Frigga up and setting down some pale blue flowers. He turned to Thor and Catherine. "I think tonight we should dine together, just the family and honour Tyr that way. If you would not object Lady Catherine…"

Catherine tensed a little. It was supposed to be a quiet day. However as she glanced at the angel statue, she knew she should. She should honour her little boy in all the ways that mattered in Asgard. She turned back to the King and bowed her head. "I think that sounds like a kind offer my lord," she told him. "I accept your invitation."

Frigga patted Catherine's shoulder. "We will leave you to spend more time with your son and see you later… about six o'clock?" Catherine nodded slowly and watched as Odin and Frigga left. She turned and saw Thor kneeling before Tyr's grave. She observed him curiously as his sad eyes raked over the statue. She didn't know what to say to him.

"He would have made a fine young man," said Thor. "It would have been an honour for me to know him as he grew up. Although I suspect I would have had little to do with him if Loki had had his way."

"Loki was angry because of the lies," said Catherine. "If he had chosen to stay, if we had all been able to sort the mess out, things might have been different. For all your previous faults, Thor," Catherine said quietly. "I think you would have made a good uncle," she said. Part of her mentally rebuked herself as though it was a betrayal of Loki but the greater part of her ignored it.

Thor looked up at her. "Thank you, Lady Catherine." Catherine bowed her head and heard Thor get to his feet. She was surprised when she felt his hand on her cheek and his lips touch her head gently. "Peace be with you and I shall see you tonight," he told her before walking off.

Catherine let out a breath and moved to sit by the grave again, this time thoughtfully.

_Catherine's screams echoed around the Healing Room as another contraction racked her body. The physical pain of the induced labour was equal to the emotional turmoil of knowing what it was she was giving birth to; a dead baby. She sat up, pushing harder and harder, letting her screams release the anger and anguish that filled her body and heart. She took hard breaths before pushing again, just wanting it to be over with. She couldn't remember how long she had been in labour but she just wanted it over. _

_Less than half an hour later, she was done; she'd delivered the baby and Dr Nightlock was cleaning the child up and wrapping him in a golden blanket for her. She was exhausted but she forced herself into a sitting position so she could hold the baby. She held her arms out and Haymer gently deposited the child into her arms. _

"_A son," he told her sadly. _

_She gazed down at her boy in devastated shock. He was beautiful, perfect in every way. He was small but given he was premature that was hardly surprising. A few hairs lined his head and they were dark, darker than her own which meant he must have Loki's hair. She gently stroked the baby's cheeks and eyelids. She wondered what colour eyes he would have had. Tears poured down her face as she rocked her child back and forth. She brought him closer to her face and kissed his head. _

"_My poor baby, I'm so sorry…" she cried gently. _

"_Do you want to give him a name?" Dr Nightlock asked tentatively. Looking up at him, Catherine took some shaky breaths and then looked down at the child again. She could only nod whilst she struggled to comprehend what was really happening. She kissed the child's head again, hating the coldness._

"_Tyr," she said after a few minutes. "I want to name him Tyr."_

It was four o'clock when Catherine finally decided to go back and get ready. She stood up and kissed her hand, placing it on the angel statues' lips.

"Goodnight, my angel," she said softly. "Never forget, Mummy loves you more than anything in the whole world. I will never forget you and I will never stop missing you." She took a step back and looked at the heavens. "You will always have a place in my heart."

She turned and left the Memorial Gardens.

XMARVELX

Catherine entered the dining hall to a small gathering set around the table. Odin sat at the head with Thor on one side and Frigga on the other. Frigga gently gestured for Catherine to sit next to her. Catherine moved across the room silently, her evening gown billowing about her like smoke. She had opted for a strapless gown since it was more of a formal occasion. She wore her locket proudly above her chest. She took a seat next to Frigga and bowed her head at the men. Odin raised a goblet into the air and looked around at the others solemnly.

"We gather here today to raise a toast and our prayers to the lost little Prince Tyr Lokison. May he live forever in our hearts and keep watch over his wonderful, brave, mother who continues to be strong in his absence," said Odin gazing at Catherine. She bit her lip as emotions bubbled away inside her and she merely nodded.

"To Tyr!" Thor said raising his glass.

"To Tyr!" Frigga spoke.

"To Tyr!" Catherine echoed.

**Author's Note: **Woo! That chapter turned out slightly different than I planned but I'm happy with it. Apart from the crappy childhood story fiasco of course. I decided not to elongate the tribute meal scene since there wasn't anything left to be said that hadn't been said already in the chapter. But yes, that's one hurdle down for Catherine, the first anniversary and all.


	7. Balls and bitter words

**Author's Note: ** There are big times jump between the next few chapters but mainly because aside from Catherine's training being built up, not much is happening at the moment. This chapter probably won't be that long either but it also won't be long until a certain Mr Laufeyson begins to feature

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Six_

Three months had passed since Catherine had visited her son's grave and she had thrown herself back into her new routine with considerable force. Her mornings and afternoons were spent with Sif, training and building up a range of physical fighting talents to her use. By evenings she was absorbed in learning magic and then her nights were filled with an undisturbed sleep. So on the whole she was on the road to recovery of sorts. When you hit bottom of sorts, there was really only one place to go and that was upwards and onwards.

Thankfully her frequent visits by, what she was starting to call the bodyguard family, had stopped for now though every so often Frigga had stopped by for a brief chat. Thor made polite conversation if he and Catherine ran into each other but apart from that, there wasn't much going on. Catherine didn't really see Odin for which she was rather grateful.

Her magic was much improving. She'd moved onto stronger spells like transforming something into something else and changing parts of her appearances. She no longer needed to chant for the smaller spells and she was even managing the conjuring of very powerful spells such as invisibility, strong shields and making things increase or decrease in size. Of course these spells left her rather drained but she enjoyed the knowledge that she could do them and in time she'd be able to feel more able to perform them.

As for her physical training, she was now an advanced rider and she considered herself a rather good archer. She still had trouble wielding heavy weapons on a horse though she was adequate with a sword at the very least. She was now being taught with a focus on the throwing sports such as javelin, shot put and the like. In terms of combat she wasn't doing too badly either. Her athletic abilities were a little better but there was much room for improvement.

At the end of a particularly gruelling day, Catherine and Sif made their way back to the palace, tired and hungry. Catherine had begun to get some new respect for Sif, the training she must have gone through to be _that _good, must have been exhausting. Not that she would admit this to her. She really didn't need Sif getting some sort of superiority complex. Sif already dealt with Catherine with a sharp tongue, she didn't need to boost the Goddess' ego too.

As they were heading towards the palace, Catherine caught a glimpse of the memorial gardens and stopped, frowning as she found herself becoming lost in memories and thoughts. Thoughts of the little boy in that garden and the memory of all his family gathered around mourning him. It was a strange kind of comfort in a way. She jumped when she felt her arm yanked and found herself being dragged away by Sif. "Come on, Catherine, get a grip," Sif muttered.

Catherine shook her head and followed Sif into the palace. It was only when they stepped inside that she remembered tonight was the night of a ball Odin was hosting with some diplomats from the other worlds. She sighed as she remembered telling Frigga she'd come if only to allay her worries.

By the gods how she hated formal occasions now that Loki was gone. Before his death the pair of them had been able to enjoy the evening by spending time with each other and ignoring anyone else. Now that she was alone, she'd have to either find a way to entertain herself or talk to someone. This was going to be ridiculously boring but if it stopped Frigga worrying and having Thor drop by for concerned visits then she'd have to put up with it for one night. Perhaps she could try and go over some magic theory whilst she was there? She doubted she could bring a book, even a small one without appearing rude. Oh well, it seemed that she would have to make a quick getaway as soon as possible.

"I'll call for you when it's time for the ball," said Sif.

"I'll be waiting with baited breath," Catherine muttered sarcastically.

"Oh quit being so grump," Sif sighed. "There will be plenty of people to talk to tonight. In fact you'll probably get a fair bit of male attention. It's a chance to have some fun. No one will judge you for it," she added and shrugged. "Anyway I'll see you later," she said before hurrying off.

Catherine growled under her breath. She had no intention of enjoying any male attention tonight.

XMARVELX

Catherine stared at the dresses in front of her. There were a few suitable ones and a few not. The gold dress was out. The maroon dress hung in front of her and she blushed a little to remember Loki taking her in it on his bed in his bedchambers.

She closed her eyes as she remembered the feel of him inside her, touching her, kissing her so gently as though she were something fragile and then kissing her so fiercely she feared she would burn up with the passion. No, she could never wear that dress in public again, knowing what she had done in it. _Maybe that was the night our son was conceived, _a sobering thought hit Catherine sending ice down her back.

_Definitely not the maroon dress, _Catherine decided quickly. She picked out a long sleeved blue gown. It was covered up even over the chest area. She smiled a little. That one would do. If there was nothing to look at, there was nothing to lust for. She changed into it and let her hair fall loosely about her shoulders. Raising her hand to her head, she allowed some magic into her hair, making it shimmer and sparkle a little. She paused. Why had she bothered to make such an effort? She would not welcome any advances made tonight.

_Maybe it's time you felt like a woman again, _a voice inside her head spoke. _You don't need to dress up for other men but maybe for you. How long has it been since you felt so feminine and beautiful? _

She sighed and turned away from the mirror. She slipped into her shoes just as a knock came on the door. She took her bag and opened the door. Sif was waiting, dressed in a simple but elegant black, one shouldered dress. _Typical Sif manages to look gorgeous no matter what she wears, _Catherine thought to herself before shaking her head and following Sif out of the hallway.

XMARVELX

The ball was even bigger than Catherine had imagined it. It was full of people and already Catherine could see that her presence had attracted a few people's attention. It filled her with nerves and she found herself suddenly wishing for Loki. Her hand automatically reached out for him only to close on thin air. Her eyes stung with the force of keeping tears back. No, she would keep her head and not lose it. It was only a few hours. She walked further into the room and tried not to look at anyone for too long. She could tell Sif had already left her side, no doubt to find Thor already.

She didn't know why Sif bothered. Thor liked that Jane girl did he not? Oh to be sure that Catherine didn't take an interest in gossiping herself but every so often she heard rumours spread around the palace so she wasn't a total hermit. But then surely Sif had heard those rumours too and if they were true then why would she continue to put herself in the way of heartbreak for a man she could never have? She didn't understand it at all but then she herself had never been in that position.

She approached the table and picked up a goblet of wine, sipping it slowly. Alcohol was here, yes, the only thing that could possibly make this party bearable. However she knew she'd have to be discreet since Thor remembered her last incident with the demon drink. Even now Catherine still insisted that she had every right to drink. But she had to admit she had less reason to get completely drunk now that she was kept occupied in the day and night. But once in a while surely wouldn't do her any harm now would it?

She was wandering around and drinking slowly when she heard voices ahead of her. She couldn't help but hear what the people were saying even as she moved to step away.

"I feel for the mother, I really do but really, that Loki wasn't a patch on Thor. He caused so much trouble in the end with no thought for those around him. If he had, that lass he knocked up wouldn't have had to go through so much and maybe their child would still live."

"Oh yes, thoughtless behaviour. There's a reason that Odin didn't make him the heir apparent."

"It was only because of Thor's banishment he got the throne in the first place. Frigga must have been driven mad by worry for her husband to put that boy in charge of Asgard."

Catherine turned and observed the group gossiping about Loki with growing distaste. Irritation built up within her, slowly turning to anger. How dare they, how dare they say such horrible things behind Frigga's back? How dare they insult Loki's memory now that he was gone? She felt her hand tighten on the goblet and she finished the drink quickly before putting the empty goblet on a passing waiter's tray and collecting a new drink. She advanced on the group with a building rage, listening to them carefully.

"That girl is hardly blameless you know! She stood by and let him do those things!"

"Well naturally she couldn't argue with him since he was fucking her. She was no doubt given special privileges for that."

Catherine's stomach turned at the gossip and insinuations made against her. She sipped from her goblet before the urge to throw it at the group overcame her too much.

"She should have saved herself until she was married. Now look at her, unmarried, a dead baby and cracking up from what I hear," another was saying.

"I hear she's making progress and it's all thanks to Lady Sif," said a tall man.

"Lady Sif is far too kind to be devoting so much talent to Loki's wastrel." One of the women spoke with a haughty air that almost made Catherine laugh bitterly. Instead she moved forward and cleared her throat.

"Loki's what, sorry?" she asked in a falsely pleasant voice. The group fell silent, clearly abashed. Catherine felt a twisted pleasure in making them squirm. She looked around them with a polite but cold smile. "Come come, you are the gossip mongers are you not? Do you not create spiteful gossip and rumours about people in order to feel better about your own lives?"

The woman sniffed. "I hardly think you're in a situation to judge us."

"Have you ever been in love… any of you?" Catherine asked, her voice as sharp as glass. "Or had children?" she looked about them waiting for a reply. When none was forthcoming, she laughed coldly. "I should have known really. It's easier to slander what you don't know. After all why would anyone willingly lay with a block of stone. It can't feel emotions, it can't feel pleasure and it's certainly not good company," she smirked. "But that is why you gossip isn't it? Because you're not worth anything yourselves so you make other people feel worthless. Bring them down to your level, is that not your strategy?" she asked icily.

"Well I say, wait just a minute-" one of them began but Catherine let out a sharp laugh.

"Oh please, don't even try!" Catherine snorted. "You make me sick and to be honest, you're not even worth the effort of arguing with! Good luck with your sad lives!" she said with a flourish before walking away with a rather satisfied smirk. That felt good and the alcohol hadn't even kicked in yet.

She downed the rest of her drink and grabbed another. Arguing had been a wonderful way to relieve some of the tension. As she turned around, Catherine noted that the group must be talking about her from their furtive glances. As she looked down at her goblet, she had a wicked idea. Gazing back up, she focused on one of the women's hair arrangement and with a slight twist of her fingers, her hair became orange and fell out of its clasp.

Loud gasps sounded from the group, attracting other people's attention. Catherine grinned as she turned to one of the men in the group and caused his pants to fall down. She then proceeded to turn another man's robes bright green and make another woman's dress balloon out until a loud bang echoed around the hall and the woman was left with tatters for a dress.

Catherine smirked and sipped some of her drink as panic began to unfold amongst the guests who were looking everywhere for the source of the magic. It was fifteen minutes before Odin could get them all to calm down and get what tailors he could in for the woman in the dress. Straight after that, was time for the meal. Once again Catherine sat by Frigga and couldn't resist a couple of amused glances towards the gossips at the end of the table. They were looking rather disgruntled which pleased her greatly. They were a spineless spiteful bunch and she was very much glad that she had taught them a lesson to remember.

The meal passed quite quickly and once over, people gathered together for the dancing and chatting around the hall. Catherine immediately retreated to the wall as she watched the dancing, losing herself in a pleasant memory.

_She and Loki were standing together at a ball watching the dancing around them. Catherine was watching bemused since it looked like it would be a bit of a boring activity. Not that it was one she'd ever gotten to try before but still. She glanced at Loki who smiled at her shyly. She looked away and wondered when they could sneak out and chat. It was boring here. After a few moments Loki stepped in front of her and bowed, offering a hand to her. _

"_Would you like to try out this dance, Catherine?" he asked with a playful smile on his face. _

_Catherine blinked in shock before taking his hand and letting him guide her into the masses. His free arm wrapped around her waist and suddenly they were moving along with the crowds, gracefully, spinning through the people and moving faster than the others. It took Catherine a moment to realise that Loki was practically carrying her through the dance since she knew none of the steps. _

_She looked up at him and at his gentle smile and couldn't help returning it, looking into emerald eyes. _

Catherine blinked out of the memory and finished her drink. She'd had enough for tonight. Putting the drink aside, she headed straight for the door and out into the hallways, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone before she did.


	8. Day of Death

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Seven_

Catherine felt visibly sick when she woke up on the morning of the second anniversary of Loki's death. Sitting up in bed, she had to fight to scramble out of the covers so she could make her way over to the bathroom. Crouching down by the toilet, Catherine emptied the contents of her frankly nervous stomach before sinking onto the floor and wiping her mouth. The temperature was cooler in the bathroom and it soothed her hot skin and the beads of sweat that had gathered on her forehead. She took deep gulps of air and eventually picked herself up, washing her face, getting rid of the sick and brushing her teeth to get rid of the feel of sick in her mouth. She stepped out into the bedroom and brought her hands to her face. She ran her hands through her hair.

Another day of torture was upon her. It seemed completely unjust that not only had she lost two of the most important people, nay, the only two important people in her life but their deaths were six months apart so when she got past one anniversary, she had another to look forward to. Her head was a mess and how was she supposed to heal with such occasions constantly reminding her?

Catherine sat on the bed and tried to focus on clearing her mind. The last three months hadn't been the greatest, what with her being aware of the gossips now but she had tried to focus on her training and magic. She was at least able to perform a lot of magic without chanting now but her spells were always stronger with a chant. She now carried the book with her wherever she went, hidden in the bodice of her gown thanks to her ability to shrink the size of things. The book offered Catherine a lot of comfort and so she took it everywhere as a human child might take a comfort blanket or stuffed toy. Part of her was ashamed for needing such comfort but it was better than feeling hollow and empty all the time.

Catherine was glad that magic was becoming more adept to her after her tricks on the gossips at the ball. She was grateful no one had realised it was her but she had a feeling that if things continued as they were then she might just explode. She was keeping her grief at bay but if those malicious good for nothing scandal spreaders continued to drip poison, well she might not be able to help herself. She found that releasing her anger gave her a buzz but she also knew how destructive it could be. Sometimes she was frightened by the intensity of her own feelings but she couldn't help herself.

Standing up, Catherine made her way to her closet and brought out a simple black and green gown. It was mainly black with a green corset around the bodice and dark emeralds hung from the skirt of it. It was a beautiful dress and one that Catherine had fashioned herself using magic. It would be its first outing for Loki's anniversary. Last year she had had to be escorted to the memorial and had fallen to pieces. She was hoping to maintain some dignity this time though the pain of his loss was still as fresh as it had been back then.

She couldn't believe she'd survived two years without him. It was times like these she wished she was mortal and could expect only a certain number of years left to live without him. But no, as an Asgardian, Catherine could expect an eternity without him and sometimes that felt like too much to bear. After all there was nothing keeping her here really apart from magic and her training. She had no one to anchor her to life and yet she did nothing about it. Maybe she was just too much of a coward, she told herself. Maybe she was too weak to do anything about it. Or maybe it was just the prospect of there being no afterlife at all and turning to nothingness. Was this grief-stricken existence better than nothingness? She didn't know for sure. No one did.

Once she was changed into the dress, Catherine let her hair fall down around her shoulders and gently touched the locket around her neck. She held it gently between her fingers. She should think about asking Frigga if she could get a picture of Loki to put in the other side. That way she'd keep them both close to her heart.

A knock sounded on the door and Catherine moved to open it. Frigga, Odin and Thor were stood there in their ceremonial mourning robes of gold and black. Frigga was looking rather red eyed already and held out a small box to Catherine. Catherine tentatively took it and examined it thoughtfully. She opened it and let out a small gasp. Inside was a photo of Loki, perfect for her locket. Tears stinging her eyes, she looked up at Frigga emotionally. "You must be psychic…" she murmured as the tears fell down her face.

Frigga immediately pulled Catherine into a hug, rubbing her back. "Sssh, Catherine, it's alright," she said gently. "I thought it might be nice to keep them both close." Catherine nodded through the tears, unable to speak. Frigga held her for a few minutes, stroking her hair and whispering reassurances to her. After a while Catherine pulled back wiping her face.

"Thank you," she told Frigga before bowing her head. She felt Thor put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come, let's go and see him," he spoke softly but solemnly.

The walk down to the Memorial Gardens took less time than Catherine thought even though they were going rather slowly. They wound their way through the paths and finally came up to Loki's memorial. Catherine looked up into the painted eyes again and shuddered with grief. She felt Frigga clasp her hand and she squeezed it. "Loki," Frigga said sadly. "Oh my poor Loki," she said softly.

"I can't believe it's been two years," said Odin. "Two years since that day on the bridge."

"Why did he let go?" Thor asked and Catherine saw that his eyes were filled with tears. "Why would he let himself die? Did he think we would not forgive him?"

Odin sighed. "I played a part in the deception of him but I only did it because I didn't want him to feel different."

"But he was never a contender for the throne was he?" Catherine spoke softly and looked at Odin. "He said you'd made it obvious he would never have been chosen to be heir because of his heritage," she said watching him curiously and sadly.

Odin looked at Catherine quietly. "It was never a conscious thought but maybe I did favour Thor in regards to the throne because it was easier and he was my blood child. In many ways he's a lot like me; that's why I was so annoyed at his actions on Jotunheim, because I wanted him to be heir."

Catherine let out a small sob. "But Loki was an able candidate all along and he never got a chance to prove it to you before your Odinsleep." She turned to Thor. "I'm sorry if it seems like I disrespect you, Thor." She told him earnestly. "But I do feel Loki should have had a better chance. I don't mean to criticise you, Odin," she said turning back to the King. "I guess I'm just trying to understand."

"Don't worry, I know you mean well," said Odin.

"I take no offence," said Thor. "Loki should have had a chance without Father having to go into Odinsleep."

"But he did get to be King." Catherine mused.

"I think finding out what he was did the damage. I lied to him for what I thought was his own good. In terms of love, Loki was no less beloved to me than Thor," Odin said being assertive. "Going to Jotunheim must have made him notice something," he pondered.

"It's my fault, I took him there," said Thor sadly.

"No," Frigga said sternly. "All this was Loki's choice. We can't help the way things turned out."

"But to give up on life altogether…" Catherine murmured. "How could he?"

"Perhaps he saw no other way out," said Frigga. "Panicked… I don't know…"

Catherine looked down at her feet with tears in her eyes. She could still see Loki hanging on to the staff, gazing up at her. She could still remember the feel of his hand touching hers before he let go of it forever. She wiped tears from her eyes. Had Loki really felt so bad, that he couldn't have come back home even for her? Was she not enough for him to cling onto life? The woman he loved and his best friend. Was his pain that much or was it simply that their love hadn't been strong enough to survive in the first place? Tears coursed down her face. That was the worst part of it all; that Loki had let go and killed himself. She could never forget that or stop wondering if she had been worth anything at all to Loki. She knew it was terrible to wonder at that but she couldn't help it.

"He was a strong, loyal, clever boy" said Frigga. "His talent for magic and his kindness towards his brother and friend were equal to none."

"He was always the cautious one and so thoughtful," agreed Odin. "But in the end it was recklessness that got him killed."

Catherine let out a sob and turned away from the memorial. The feelings of pain, confusion, grief and disappointment hit her heart like spears to an animal, each one hitting a vital part of her heart.

Odin knelt down in front of the memorial. "I'm sorry, son. I wish I could have done more."

"As do I, brother," said Thor. "I'm sorry I did not treat you as an equal."

"You will always be my brave, beautiful and clever boy, Loki," Frigga told the memorial. "No matter what you do or what's in your heart."

Catherine turned away, unable to cope with the situation. She picked up her skirts and ran for the palace, ignoring the family's cries to call her back.

XMARVELX

Catherine leant back against the pillows on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had no desire to practice magic or even drink. She let her pain and grief engulf her and twist the knife further into her heart. She even welcomed the pain; for once she didn't want to be numb, she wanted to hurt, to feel her grief and love for Loki all in one blur of emotions. She just couldn't fight her feelings anymore and it was useless to pretend that these emotions would go away in time. Loki had been her soul-mate; that was a certainty. Even if he had not seen a life worth living when she'd tried to pull him up, even if she wasn't enough for _him_, he was _her_ soul-mate and always would be.

She closed her eyes, begging for sleep to just take her and blot out this awful day but nothing happened. She fisted her hands in the covers as tears leaked from her eyes. Would she never be able to stop crying? What if she never got over Loki or Tyr? What if she was in this much pain for the rest of her life? Could she handle that, could she really just pine after them for all of eternity? She released a shudder at the thought and closed her eyes, breathing heavily.

This pain was too much for her to bear. She couldn't fight for her sanity and existence any longer when she had no one to fight for it for. She was reminded of the story of Elinar and Valdemar and the power of love for another person. Well love was destroying her bit by bit and she couldn't let it happen. She couldn't be like this for eternity, never able to live because too much hurt inside.

She got up slowly off the bed and headed for the door. She paused before turning around and going to her chest of drawers and pulling out the golden blanket. She brought it into her arms and smelt it. Turning around, she left the bedroom and headed for the front door. As she turned to look back at the apartment, her other hand touched the locket, opening it to show Loki and Tyr's faces looking up at her. She looked back up at the apartment and found herself remembering the happy memories that had been replaced by terrible ones.

She closed the door behind her and headed out of the palace still clutching the blanket. She couldn't cope anymore, she just couldn't. No amount of training or magic would ever make her feel truly happy again. The only thing that would was being with Loki and Tyr; her _family_. Call her weak, call her a coward, call her anything and she no longer cared. All she wanted was her lover and son. She knew how to get them; how to be with them forever. To hell with everyone else.

She reached the stables quickly and stole a horse, mounting it and riding off before the stable boys could stop her. She rode faster, harder and with more determination than ever before, to the rainbow bridge, or rather what was left of it. As she approached, she dismounted and left the horse aside as she stepped onto the bridge itself. The bridge that was still intact was strong but Catherine still felt dizzy as she began to walk along its length. She clutched the blanket securely as she arrived at the very edge of the bridge, looking down into the abyss.

The wormhole that had been caused by the destruction of the BiFrost was still there but faintly. Catherine stared down at it knowing that if she didn't do it, she'd lose her chance forever. She looked up at the stars and kissed the blanket.

"I'm coming for you," she told the stars, calling out to Loki and Tyr wherever they were. "I hope you can forgive me; I'm not strong enough without you."

In the distance she thought she could hear Odin's voice echoing as he shouted; "Catherine, no!"

She took a step off the bridge and into nothingness.


	9. Descent into Hell

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Eight_

Catherine was falling so fast that she could only see a beautiful blur of colour as the wormhole began to close, sucking in the dust and cosmos that surrounded it. Glittering lights that must have been the stars flashed for a moment before disappearing, as Catherine found herself being engulfed by a blinding light. The last images of Asgard faded from her sight as the light took hold of her.

A great force latched onto Catherine and pulled her, hard and fast through ages of the white light which burnt so hot that Catherine had to wince and close her eyes against the pain. Her head spun as her body was jolted around and the breath stolen from her body. She prayed for it to be over quickly, the white hot light was starting to burn through her skin. She didn't dare open her eyes for fear of being blinded.

From behind her eyelids, Catherine noticed the light dimming and blackness replace it. The feeling of being pulled through a fast vortex was also replaced with a rather Zen feeling of drifting, of floating weightlessly around. After a moment she slowly opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by darkness, with tiny pin pricks of light surrounding her. She looked around in wonder. What was this place? These… lights, they weren't stars. They were like gaps in a box, letting in light. Was she inside somewhere? Was that white light outside the place she was in? Where was she? Was Loki here? Had he come to this place too?

Slowly in the gathering darkness, the lights began to flicker out and Catherine felt fear grip her chest and lungs. She looked around desperately to see whether all the lights were going out and to try and move closer to one that wasn't. She didn't want to be left alone in this darkness. She couldn't be left alone like this. Not without Loki or Tyr. Where the hell was she?

A faint blue glow lit up one of the last pin pricks of light. Catherine peered at it intently. What was that? It wasn't affecting every light in this place, just that one light. She tried to float towards it, reaching out but she didn't move. However the light was moving closer to her.

_Yes, come closer, come closer, what are you? _Catherine wondered as the light approached her. She reached out for it again as it came closer. The closer it came the warmer her fingertips got. It was warm, this light was warm. Something inside Catherine told her that this light screamed life. She needed to touch it and something would happen surely. The light seemed to be taking an age to get to Catherine's hands but come it did.

Her fingers gently touched the blue light and suddenly everything exploded. Blue light erupted everywhere and sent Catherine flying backwards, downwards and upside down in a mad blur of direction through a powerful wind. Her hair was flung back, her eyes opened wide with the force and then suddenly she was dropping hard and fast down into darkness.

She tried to scream, she tried her best but she had no voice for it. Instead she struggled against the brute force propelling her downwards and tried to reach out for anything to grab, anything to slow down her fall and stop this craziness. Below her she saw blue light spreading into an opening through which was a mass of dark and grey matter. It was only as she passed through that her scream gained volume and echoed in her own ears before she slammed into the ground and lay still.

XMARVELX

Her head felt so sore that she thought it might actually be splitting open. Voices swam in murmurs around her head, her ears struggling to separate and adjust to them all. Her eyes remained closed, black soaking into her mind, her brain unable to process her hearing and sight all at once. A feeling of aching pain spread through her body and she winced a little. That would be her nerves waking up then, and boy did her body hurt like hell. She groaned a little as the voices began to come into focus.

"Someone fetch the Master! She may be where he's from!" a woman's voice called to another person. The sound of scurrying feet came into Catherine's hearing.

"Keep her still, we don't know how injured she is!" a man said warningly.

"Or how dangerous!" a third person chimed in.

"I think she's waking up!" an older sounding voice came into hearing. "Look at her eyes!"

Catherine's eyes flickered open. Blurred grey and black images swam before her eyes and she struggled to focus on what was in front of her. She seemed to be lying down, on her side and she could feel the floor was cold beneath her. After the hot light on the way here it felt nice and soothing. She tried to raise her head but agony spread through it like wildfire.

"Don't move," the older voice said. "You hit your head pretty hard upon landing." Catherine tilted her head slightly and looked up, her eyes focusing on a white haired man in a chequered shirt and trousers. He was watching her with some concern.

Catherine groaned as her body continued to wake up. "Ugh… am I dead?" she asked.

The man started with surprise. "What? No, your vital signs are good. Your pulse is strong."

"Wh-ere am… I?" she asked blearily.

"Planet Earth," the man said. "My name's Erik Selveig and I'm going to help you. Now lie still, someone's going to come along and check you over and then we're going to help you, okay? Don't worry about a thing, it'll all be okay."

Catherine relaxed her body a little. It was too painful to move. She looked up and tried to see where she was. She seemed to be in a black metal cage with strange equipment around her. A small blue light reflected off the equipment and she slowly turned her face towards it. From what she could see there was a strange luminous glowing blue object in the middle of the room.

"What's that?" she managed weakly.

"Do you not know?" Erik asked curiously. "It is known as the Tessaract."

The name sounded familiar to Catherine but she couldn't quite recall where she'd heard it before. It was something she'd heard about in the past, she knew that much.

As it was, her body, too weak to stay conscious for too long blacked out just as a pair of heavy footsteps entered the cage.

XMARVELX

When Catherine came to again, she felt the surface beneath her was much softer and silkier than she would have imagined. For a wonderful moment, she wondered if the past two years had been a dream and she was just waking up from her night with Loki. She raised her head and blinked a few times. She felt a lot better than before; her body didn't ache so much and her headache was all but gone. She brought a hand to touch her head and paused, looking up at the ceiling. She still couldn't tell where she was but that guy, Erik had said that she was on Earth, well Midgard to her. If that was the case then was it possible she was still alive and had just been taken somewhere else?

She pulled herself into a sitting position and sighed, bringing a hand to her face. Oh by the gods this had not worked out as she'd hoped. How had she ended up on Midgard? That wormhole should have killed her as it did Loki. Why had she not died? Why was someone determined to keep her alive when they had killed those she loved? She rubbed her forehead trying to make sense of it all. This was turning into one long nightmare, one she doubted she'd ever wake up from.

Just then the door opened and Catherine looked up immediately to see who was entering the room. Whoever it was, was tall and had his back to her as he closed the door. As he turned around to face her, Catherine bit back the urge to scream.

It was Loki.

**Author's Note: **Haha guys, I know I'm such a tease! I'm sorry but I couldn't resist!


	10. A Reunion of Broken Things

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Nine_

Catherine stared at Loki in a mixture of shock, confusion and growing elation. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she struggled to comprehend just what it was she was seeing. She narrowed her eyes, her eyes searching questioning his, desperate for answers. How could Loki be here? Loki was dead… She looked him up and down as though unsure she was actually seeing him. She swallowed hard. This had to be some awful realistic dream right? Surely she was dreaming. There was no way Loki could be here, he'd fallen into the wormhole, it should have killed him. _Like it should have killed you,_ a small voice spoke in the back of her mind, _and yet you're here alive and well now_.

Her face fell as she watched him warily from the bed. Could it really be possible that he was alive? He'd not been killed, just… fallen to Midgard? Was any of this really real and happening or was she hallucinating? Was she really just looking at an ordinary human and seeing what she wanted to see?

"L-Loki…?" she asked in a small voice. "Is that you?"

Loki was looking down at her, disbelief in his own eyes. He approached her bed slowly. Catherine shrunk back a little as though afraid of him. She couldn't get her hopes up, not until she knew for sure if it was really Loki. A few moments of silence passed between them before Loki spoke.

"Yes, of course it's me," he spoke gently and moved closer to the bed. "Catherine, I-I can't believe you're here. When the others told me-" he began but Catherine shrank back.

"This is Midgard right?" she asked cutting him off. He looked taken aback but nodded.

"Yes-" he began but she cut him off again.

"So you're alive," she pressed on. "So you survived the fall and ended up here."

Loki stared at her solemnly and cautiously before nodding slowly. "Yes, I found my way here."

Catherine swung her legs out of bed and rested her hands on her knees. A torrent of powerful emotions hit her like a tidal wave, fast and completely crushing her from the inside. Loki was alive and he was well. He wasn't dead; he was alive, real and right in front of her. All those nights of crying because he had been killed were for nought. He was alive and standing so close that it was only a short walk before she could touch him. Yet part of her couldn't bring herself to.

She had mourned him for two years of her life, convinced he was dead and resigned herself to never seeing him again. Had she not tried to commit suicide, she doubted she ever would have either. There had been no sign of him, no indication that he had been alive. For all intents and purposes, he had been dead to Asgard. She let out a shuddering breath as a horrible realisation hit her. Loki could have tried to contact Asgard if he'd wanted to. He was powerful enough. If he'd really wanted to come home, he could have. But instead there wasn't a trace of him. So what did that tell her?

"Catherine…" she heard him say and looked around seeing him come closer to her side of the bed. "Catherine, I can't believe you're here." He spoke quietly and gently to her as he approached.

Complex emotions stirred in Catherine as she looked at him in disbelief. Rage and relief, love and anger, hurt and comfort, they all raged on in her heart battling for dominance and she had no idea what to say, what to feel or what to do in this situation. She looked up at him as he came closer and she scooted back onto the bed, backing away from him with a troubled expression. He stopped his movements looking at her with confusion.

"Catherine, it is me, it is Loki…" he began.

"I know," she said watching him. "I just…" She stopped herself. What should she do? Half of her wanted to throttle Loki and the other half just wanted to take him in her arms and hold him close. Yet she suspected neither of those things would really help her. Taking deep steady breaths she got off the bed and cautiously walked around it to slowly approach him. He stayed still, watching her, letting her come to him.

Her hand swung round and met his face with such force and speed that he didn't see it coming until he stumbled backwards several steps. He held his cheek in shock and turned his face to look at her.

Catherine looked thunderous. "How dare you, how dare you, you lying bastard!?" she shouted at him. "You let us believe you were dead for two years, not a word, not one sign that you might be still alive!" she growled at him. She could feel her anger warming up her blood, making it boil, giving her the strength she needed.

Loki's eyes widened a fraction. "Two years?"

"Two long years," Catherine said; her mouth quivering slightly before she sucked in a breath. "I take it you wanted us to think you were dead? I mean you weren't on good terms with Thor and Odin. Why not punish them some more by letting them believe they'd lost you for good? What about Frigga? Your mother? She did nothing to you and she had to spend two years grieving for a son who wasn't even dead!" Catherine's voice grew louder as her anger erupted.

Loki took several steps towards her. "I care not what Odin and Thor think of me. They're not my family and neither is Frigga, no matter how well she treated me. Her grief is regrettable but I cannot change that."

"What about me?!" Catherine screamed. Tears sprung to her eyes but she forced them back. "You didn't think I'd be worried about you? You didn't think I would grieve for you? You didn't think I'd spend the next two years trying to pick up the pieces of a broken heart!"

Loki's eyes softened a little. "Catherine, listen to me-"

"No, no," Catherine took a step back. "Why should I? You made yourself perfectly clear when you let go of my hand. You made yourself _undeniably _understood when you didn't give me a sign that you were alive. You let me fall into a pit of despair and you could have done something about it. But you didn't. So, I guess I know now how you really feel about me. Because when you love someone, you don't let them think you're dead and leave them to deal with it." Catherine felt the tears trickle down her cheeks. "So now I know you never loved me."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Loki roared. He marched up to Catherine and took her by the elbows. "That has never been true and it never will be true, just listen to me!"

Catherine shook in his arms as she looked up into his fiery emerald eyes, the eyes that she had come to love and cherish and miss with all her heart. She looked up at him reluctantly ready to listen.

"You are the only person that I do love, Catherine," he said darkly. "You're the only person who I would willingly and have already given my heart. You mean more to me than my own family. Than anything else in this universe! That is no lie!" he snapped looking at her fiercely.

"Then why did you let go of my hand?" Catherine asked quietly. Loki's gaze softened and he brought his hand up to her face and stared into her eyes. Catherine knew she should pull away from him but something kept her still and patiently watching Loki's face.

"Because I couldn't bear to live in Asgard, with the shame that Odin would have thrust upon me. A defeated King, reduced to being the lowly Prince that everyone overlooks for Thor. I couldn't do that again, not after being a King. I couldn't bear the thought of you pitying me." Loki said firmly. "I did not enjoy leaving you, Catherine, you were the only person that mattered to me but I couldn't stay."

Catherine's tears were soaking her cheeks and she felt Loki's hand wipe some away from her eyes as his other hand moved to cup her face. She frowned deeply as she looked up at him. "I would never have pitied you. You could have tried to contact me, let me know you were alright. I could have tried to find you."

Loki pulled back from her. "I couldn't take the risk."

Catherine scoffed. "You mean I wasn't worth it."

Loki looked at her angrily. "That is not true. Stop twisting my words."

Catherine turned and sat on the bed. "It's true. If I was worth the risk you'd have kept hold of my hand or you'd have tried to contact me. You didn't so I know how much our relationship meant to you and don't pretend otherwise."

Loki moved so he was standing in front of her angrily. "Are you so determined to twist everything I say? My decision to fall into that wormhole had nothing to do with you."

"But if I had really meant something to you, you would have stayed," Catherine said.

"You do mean something to me, more than something, you mean everything," Loki said looking down at her. "Being apart from you, not knowing how you were, it was torture."

Catherine glanced at the door gesturing to the place outside. "I don't know about that. You seem to be busy with the humans from what I could tell and the Tesseract."

Loki gave her a frown before turning away and pacing the room. "I had to keep myself occupied. If I couldn't have Asgard, I didn't see why I shouldn't take Midgard as recompense for the wrongs did to me on Asgard. I was the rightful heir and they overthrew me so Midgard will do for my kingdom."

Catherine brought a hand to her head and rubbed it. Her headache was returning. "You know what, Loki, I'm past caring what your plans are for this planet. I never cared if you were a King or a Prince. I only ever cared… I only ever loved you for you."

"And I love you for you," Loki said approaching her slowly. "But if I had contacted you, Odin would have traced it and stopped my plans. I would have been jailed and we would have been separated anyway. I thought perhaps it was better for you to believe me dead too even if I didn't wish it."

Catherine's face crumpled. "You make it sound so noble but you of all people should know what it feels like when part of your life is a lie. Two years I'll never get back because of the grief and the pain and the constant anger." She sobbed as she spoke.

Loki walked forwards and took her arms again. "I'm so sorry, Catherine but it had to be done. You make the assumption that I would have been able to contact you anyway even if I'd been prepared to. The boundaries between worlds are powerful."

"So are you," said Catherine. "The fact is that I don't think I'm as important to you as you are to me. You're my everything but if the same were true vice versa then we would have faced things together and not apart. I would have run away with you if it meant we were together but instead you just gave up on me, on us… on yourself."

Loki's hands slid to her waist and he pulled her closer. "There's no guarantee we could have got away together."

"Life doesn't do guarantees," Catherine snapped. "At least I would have known you loved me enough to fight for us."

"I do love you!" Loki erupted in frustration. "I love you, Catherine, how many times! You are as important to me as I am to you! Don't pretend otherwise! Two years of your life, it's not much compared to eternity which now you're here, we have!"

"It's not just the two years…" Catherine wept. "Losing you nearly destroyed me. In fact the only reason I'm here is because I wanted it to."

Loki narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I threw myself off the Rainbow Bridge," Catherine said simply.

Loki stared at her in horror. "W-why would you do that? Why would you want to die?"

Catherine looked down. "You were dead. I couldn't see a way out of the pain and the grief. I couldn't take any more life without you. I knew I'd never love again and it seemed such a cold and pointless existence that I just wanted to die too and be with you." Loki was stood there completely stunned. Catherine shrugged his hands away from her and moved away from him.

"Believe me, Loki, I want to believe you love me, I do…" Catherine began. "Because I know, no matter what I may think of your feelings, it doesn't change mine. I love you more than life itself."

Loki turned and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "Please, believe me, Catherine. I do love you so much. I'm sorry if you ever thought I'd give up on you or that you weren't worth fighting for. But I paid the price; I thought I'd never see you again. Giving you up was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Tears stole down Catherine's face again. Catherine turned around in his arms and looked up at him.

"You don't even know the half of what happened whilst you were assumed dead. I just can't believe you're here in front of me, and I don't know what to do because it doesn't feel real." Loki wrapped his arms around her even more, a hand coming up to stroke her hair and another stroking her back.

"It is real, Catherine, I'm here, I'm real…" Loki whispered. "If you'd let me in, you'd see that."

"I can't just forget the past two years just like that," Catherine murmured staring up into his face. "There are some scars even loving words can't erase."

"I'm not asking you to forget them; just believe me when I say I love you." Loki whispered.

"I can't just take your word for it anymore," said Catherine sadly. "Not after what happened on that bridge. I need you to prove you love me."

"How?" Loki demanded. "How do you want me to do that?"

"Over time," Catherine said wiping tears from her eyes. "I can't be parted from you again but I won't let you lead me into falsehoods."

"I never lead you into falsehoods," Loki argued. "I may have left you believing that I didn't care which was not true in the slightest but I did not lie to you." He brought his hands to her face. "But yes, I will spend eternity proving my love for you if it will make you believe me."

Catherine looked up at him with a sad smile. "Do you promise?" she asked quietly.

He leant in so their noses were touching. "I swear it," he murmured as he wiped her tears away. He could feel her breath on his face and she could feel his on hers. They stood there intimately wrapped up in each other, staring at the other, drinking in their presence. His hands moved away from her face stroked her back and hair whilst hers wandered up to his chest. "Kiss me…" he murmured. Catherine looked up at him, releasing a shaky breath as she did so. He let out a deep sigh at the feel of her breath on his lips. "Kiss me… Catherine, please kiss me."

Catherine stared up at him. He was her Loki still. Despite what he had put her through, he was her Loki and she loved him. She knew he had a way to go to prove his love but all the tenderness in his voice proclaimed it anyway. For once, she just wanted to listen and be held by him in his embrace.

She leant up slowly and let her lips brush against his ever so gently. He leant forward insistently pressing against her lips. She let out a happy sigh and parted her lips slightly, kissing him back. His arms tightened around her and she clung to him as their kiss deepened, the love coursing between them binding them closer together than ever before. For the first time in a long while, Catherine could hear her heart beating in her ears, loud and clearer than ever before.

She slowly moved her arms up to wrap around Loki's neck and his arms encircled her waist, pulling her closer. Their kiss intensified and Catherine found herself moaning slightly in his kiss. Gods she had missed this man, for all his infuriating past misdemeanours. She felt Loki move them both back further into the room and suddenly she was being backed towards the bed. She froze as she felt his hands move to her hips and slide down her thighs.

Abruptly she pulled away, filled with a sudden coldness at the feel of him touching her thighs. She knew she didn't want this; not yet at any rate. She stepped out of Loki's grasp and he turned around to face her looking confused.

"Catherine, what's wrong?"

Catherine folded her hands in front of her. "I can't… I can't do that, not yet." She looked down and took a deep breath.

Loki frowned. "Why not?"

"I just can't… not now, not today," she murmured. She didn't want to start their sex life up again for many reasons. One of them being that trust was still and issue and whilst trust was still an issue, she didn't want to risk getting pregnant again.

Catherine's head jolted up at the thought as she realised something. "My blanket!" she said in alarm. "Where is it?" she asked before bolting out of the room and out into a large open space.

The space was occupied by many desks with computers and technical work benches. Beyond the main room Catherine recognised the black metal cage with the Tessaract inside. She made for the cage, ignoring the startled looks of people as she passed. She burst into the cage and looked around on the floor frantically. She couldn't see it. She clutched her chest as panic rose inside her. If that blanket had been lost in space, it was all she had left of her baby, then she didn't know what she would do. She heard footsteps hurrying behind her.

"Catherine, what on Midgard are you doing?" Loki demanded, following her into the cage.

"My blanket," she said turning to him. "I had a gold blanket when I jumped, where is it?" she asked, her eyes bright with alarm and anxiety.

Loki was looking at her as though she'd lost the plot. "You're getting frantic about a blanket?"

Catherine walked up to him. "You don't understand. It's important. I need to know if it's here or if it got lost…" She looked up at him with pleading eyes and for a moment he just stared back before turning to his workers.

"Anyone seen a golden blanket? It may have come through with Lady Catherine." He announced sharply. Immediately the workers started looking round for it. After a minute or two, the old man Erik walked forwards, clutching, to Catherine's relief, the blanket. As he entered the room, Catherine walked forward and took the blanket quickly.

"Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you." Once Erik had gone back to his work, she held the blanket close to her and sighed in relief.

Loki was watching her. "What value does a blanket like that have?"

Catherine turned her eyes on Loki, realising that it was time he knew the truth. She took a deep breath and gestured for him to follow her back to the room. Once he'd shut the door behind them, she turned to face him.

"It belongs to your son."


	11. Confessions for Tyr

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Ten_

Loki froze at Catherine's words. He had been shocked enough when he found her unconscious lying beside the Tessaract after not having seen her for a long time. He hadn't realised that it had been two years he'd spent in the wilderness of the Cosmos, only that he had come out of it changed. Seeing Catherine had been a heart stopping jolt of a reminder of his past. Accepting that she was here and that he would have some explaining to do had not been easy but they had managed to have a fraught but frank conversation at least. He'd been convinced the shocks were over.

Oh how wrong he was. Now it turned out he had a son? He and Catherine had a child together? If two years had passed since he disappeared then that would mean the child was at least one now. A tiny infant living in Asgard separated from his parents. Loki's eyes darkened at Catherine. She had tried to commit suicide to be with him when they had a baby son in Asgard who needed her? Why would she do that? Why would she abandon her own baby?

Catherine was looking up at him from the bed, eyes red from crying and a wary look on her face. She might well look wary, Loki thought to himself angrily. He was looking forward to seeing how she wriggled her way out of this one; if she was even going to try.

XMARVELX

Catherine looked up at Loki trying to find the words to explain everything but it was hard to start. So much had happened involving Tyr that she didn't want to just rush through the story. She wanted to fill Loki in from start to finish; to do that, she needed to be calm and collected. Taking a deep breath, she decided to begin.

"Loki," she began. "When you-" she began but was surprised when he cut her off.

"Where is he?" he asked swiftly.

"I-in Asgard…" Catherine said truthfully.

"You left our son in Asgard so you could commit suicide and join me?" There was no denying the coldness in Loki's tone as he looked down at Catherine. She shivered under his gaze and looked down at her feet.

"You're not letting me-" she began.

"-finish? No, I don't see why I should after what you've done. You've abandoned our son in the same way my father abandoned me." Loki said angrily. "Tell me why I should even hear you out. Why I should even listen to you."

"Because our son is dead." Catherine said simply.

Loki stood frozen at her words, his eyes blinking at her in shock. Catherine looked up at him sadly and then stood up and paced around the room. She could feel his eyes following her all the way.

"When you fell into the wormhole, I couldn't have been more than a day or two pregnant depending on when he was conceived." Catherine began her tale. "I found out when I was a few months along. I hadn't been coping with your "death" and so when I started feeling tired and sick, I thought it was because of that but then I collapsed and Dr Nightlock discovered the pregnancy." Catherine stopped where she was and folded her arms. "I was still so devastated at what had happened to you but knowing that I was carrying a part of you made it easier," she admitted. "I came to love the child so much. Then there was the matter of telling people. Frigga was so happy when I told her. But Thor and Odin were against the idea of the child. They told me to have an abortion and-"

"-you did?" Loki interrupted, watching her suspiciously. "You bowed to pressure and killed our child?" he asked coldly.

"I did not," said Catherine. "I refused to have an abortion and that upset them. Odin continued to pester me to have an abortion, citing so many reasons to get rid of it; I was a young grief-stricken young woman, ill-equipped to deal with a screaming baby, I'd raise the child in hate because of what had happened to its father, it wasn't a good idea… so many reasons not to keep the child. I ignored him. I loved our baby more than I cared what he thought. Frigga tried to convince him but he wasn't having any of it. I tried not to let it bother me but it did." Catherine turned and walked back towards Loki. "Thor eventually came round once I assured him that I would not raise the child in hate and isolate it from its family. Even Thor could not convince Odin that the baby could be a good thing."

Catherine came to sit on the bed and for a moment her eyes shone with tears. "I remember when he kicked for the first time. I was trying to get to sleep and he just kicked. I was so filled with wonder that I barely slept. I wanted him to do it again so I could feel him close. Then he entered the next stage of development and I was approaching the final trimester of the pregnancy. He started to go quiet, kicking stopped happening. I was a bit relieved at first because it was painful but when it didn't happen again after a few days, I contacted Dr Nightlock." She paused. "He tried to find the baby's heartbeat but there was none. He died inside me. I had to have him delivered stillborn."

XMARVELX

Loki listened to Catherine's tale in utter horror. Their child had died before even being born and she'd had to deal with that alone and without him? His face fell into sadness as he instantly regretted the things he had said about her. He reached a hand out hesitantly, not sure how he could offer her comfort during such a horrific story. He moved to the bed and sat next to her. "What happened then?" he asked, sensing there was more to the story.

"I chose to have him born in my apartment. I wanted him to be born where his home would have been," said Catherine, her eyes shining with tears. "So I had him wrapped in this blanket and… just held him…."

Loki reached across and took her hands in his ever so gently.

XMARVELX

Catherine looked down at their joined hands not sure what to think. She pulled her hands away and looked away. She didn't want comfort from him if he was going to jump to conclusions instead of hearing her out. She knew she was being irrational; she had cut him off before but she didn't feel like being rational right now.

"I held him for a few hours but eventually… they had to take him away." Catherine sniffed. "We buried him a week later. He had a… a tiny coffin…" Tears poured down her face as she struggled to continue the story. "We put an angel statue above his grave and that was that." Catherine turned to look at Loki. "Getting on with life without you was hard but losing our baby too, having no one anymore… that was the worst thing. I felt so alone, I wanted to blot it all out. I drank, I cried, I just lost myself. I couldn't handle it all."

Loki was watching her with growing sadness in his eyes. Catherine knew she should feel sorry for him but right now she just had to get the story out there. "Eventually Odin told Sif to start training me in physical combat and other activities. I was reluctant at first but eventually I found that it took my mind off everything. So I'd spend my days training up. Things seemed less bleak for a while but then in the evenings, I would brood and then… nightmares would begin. I couldn't escape any of it. I was desperate to escape the nightmares and… in the end I began to occupy myself in the evenings and the nightmares stopped. I thought things would get better then." Catherine admitted.

"Six months ago… for me, it was the first anniversary of our son's death. I spent the day at the grave, Odin, Frigga and Thor came too for a while. I suppose in a way it helped a little but I just felt so suffocated with the memory of it all. I had no one I could really share it with, no one who'd really understand like you would have if you'd have been there." Catherine paused.

"Eventually I came to realise that twice a year I'd be facing an anniversary. I'd already faced the anniversary of your death and now I had to deal with our son's anniversary too? I tried my best for a few more months but… in the end, I couldn't stand it." She looked down at the floor then back at Loki. "We were the subject of gossips; being slagged off for being unmarried and parents and disgracing the kingdom blah blah blah," Catherine sighed. "I realised I was never going to be happy again without you or our son so… I decided to kill myself. I decided to throw myself off the bridge. I thought it would be poetic," she muttered and got to her feet. She didn't get far as Loki's hands took her elbows and pulled her back to sit down. She looked over at him warily. "So, no, I didn't abandon our son, I had nothing left in Asgard."

Loki was watching her sadly. "I'm sorry, Catherine. I should not have assumed you'd do something like that." He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Catherine let some more tears fall. "I know you would have been there if you had known. That was what made it worse. I just couldn't cope, Loki, I tried. I know you'd have wanted me to try," she said shaking with sobs as she tried to justify herself.

Gently shushing her, Loki pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair. "I know you did, I know." He kissed her hair gently. "There wasn't anything more that you could have done. I don't know what I'd do if I'd lost you and our child."

Catherine rested her head against his chest and breathed out in relief. She idly played with a bit of his armour between her fingers before speaking. "We've only been reunited an hour and already we fight, something is broken between us and I don't know how we can fix it."

XMARVELX

Loki rocked her a little in his arms. "We can only love each other and hope the cracks heal." He paused as they sat together in silence. "What did you name him? What did you name our son?" he asked, head bowed as he looked into her face and stroked her cheek.

Catherine sniffed. "Tyr."

Loki looked up again and felt a lump in his throat. Knowing the name of his dead son made it all the more real to him. He held Catherine close to him as the full impact of Catherine's story began to hit him. He was a father and he'd not even known it. He'd missed out on even the chance to hold his dead son and he hadn't been able to be there for Catherine.

For the first time Loki felt well and truly useless.

**Author's Note: **Okay so you've probably noticed I am using the XMARVELXs to mark different points of views again (I did it for a time in Birds of a Feather too). Anyway I'm enjoying writing this meaty part of the fic. Loki and Catherine have a long road ahead of them.


	12. Chitauri and Cuddles

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Eleven_

Night had fallen over the hidden base and Loki was up late, sat on the stone step facing the Tessaract. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the door leading to the bedroom he'd left Catherine in, lavishly decorated and fit for a Queen. Well, fit for a King and Queen really, Loki had downright refused to sleep in the large room whilst it was all plain and barren. A little magical decoration had made the place seem far more like the palace he would one day live in. Hopefully with Catherine at this side…

Things had been pretty tense between them since she'd arrived and after the news she'd told him about their son, she'd become rather tired especially following their argument from earlier. Loki had waited for her to go to sleep before leaving the room to check on the work force. Or at least, that's what he had told himself anyway. The night shift were already set to working on the results from the Tessaract and were handling themselves well so there was little he needed to do.

Glancing back at the bedroom, Loki ran a hand through his lengthened hair with a sigh. In less than 24 hours his life had turned around again more so than it already had in the two years he ended up going from planet to planet. Still at least he had a purpose again; well two purposes. He would make things right with Catherine again. He wouldn't waste the second chance fate had given him. The humans had a saying that God took away with one hand and gave with another. In some ways that saying applied to him and Catherine. Fate had taken their son away from them but had given Catherine back to Loki.

Loki stood up, leaving the step and walked around the room thoughtfully, clutching the sceptre in one hand, his boots making crunching noises on the gravel. He observed the Tessaract from afar and glanced at the readings on the computers. The plan seemed to be going well. Now that he had more people working for him, he could send them to acquire any equipment or chemicals they needed for the dimension splitter. It meant he could avoid having his face tracked by Midgard's satellites. No doubt S.H.I.E.L.D had one of them on command.

They could spend no more than a few days here before they needed to move on and find somewhere else. Loki was capable of shape shifting his appearance and he could do the same to Catherine and the accomplices S.H.I.E.L.D knew about. He tensed up at the thought of S.H.I.E.L.D finding out about Catherine. He would not allow it. If Odin watched over Midgard then he would send someone after Catherine and things would get, messy to say the least. No, Loki needed to play things very discreet. He would send half the equipment to the new location in the next two days and the rest would follow later.

Having checked everything was okay, Loki made his way back to the step and sat down with a sigh again. A strange kind of dizziness took hold of him and he realised quickly what was going on. He closed his eyes and opened the connection. In second he was no longer in the base, well not his consciousness anyway. He stood on a derelict planet, surrounded by rocks and ravines.

"The Chitauri grow restless," a voice rasped from the dark surroundings. Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the impatience of his allies.

"Let them guide themselves," he told the figure as he allowed his subconscious to adopt his battle armour, wandering along the rocks. "I will lead them in a glorious battle."

"Battle" scoffed the Chitauri general. "Against the meagre might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy" corrected Loki. "If your force is as formidable as you claim," Loki said turning to face the general.

"You question us?" hissed the general in angry disbelief. "You question him?! He who put the sceptre in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated-"

"I was a King!" snapped Loki. "The rightful King of Asgard. Betrayed." Even now the point was still sore when it came to his defeat.

The Chitauri general scoffed. "Your ambition is little, full of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds and the Tessaract will unveil-" they began.

"You don't have the Tessaract yet," Loki pointed out simply. The Chitauri general hissed in fury and in a second was in front of Loki, grotesque blue hand raised to attack. Loki merely tilted his head. "I don't threaten," he merely said. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."

"You will have your war, Asgardian," the Chitauri promised. "If you fail; if the Tessaract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where we can't find you. You think you know pain, we will make you long for something as sweet as pain."

Loki winced as the Chitauri cut the connection painfully and found himself back in the base again. He got to his feet and headed for the bedroom, tiring quickly of the humans' company for the night. He stepped inside the room and closed the door, pausing to watch Catherine as she slept. Her black dress lay on the floor beside the bed and beneath the sheets it tormented Loki to know that she wore only underwear. But now having heard the story of their son, Loki wondered if Catherine was frightened of being intimate again after losing Tyr. He sat down in a chair opposite the bed and found himself staring into space.

The Chitauri mustn't know about Catherine either. He would have to hide Catherine when it came to the war. Running his fingers through his hair, Loki sighed as he realised the double edged sword that was Catherine. Another person to protect but she was also the woman he loved. Yet he could see how changed she was. She didn't seem to stay near him very long and he wasn't able to touch her for longer than a few minutes before she pulled away. Was this how it would be until he proved himself? If that was the case then he would have to find a way to prove himself soon.

He heard a soft moan from the bed and looked up to see Catherine stirring. She was beginning to sit up and rubbed at her eyes sleepily. Loki couldn't help but smile at her. She looked kind of adorable when she was sleepy and with her hair all mussed, she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on in his life. He stood up and made his way over to the bed. "Are you alright?" he asked, perching on the edge and reaching forward to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand. She covered his hand with hers and kept his fingers there. She didn't answer at first, only blinked a few more times before looking up at him. He watched her intently. "Was it a nightmare?" he asked recalling her mentioning a problem with them after losing Tyr.

Catherine shook her head. "No, I just… woke up for some reason." She looked up at Loki. "Are you not coming to bed?" she asked.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want me-" he began but she smiled.

"No, I don't mind us sleeping in the same bed. In fact I'd prefer it… but I understand if it's a bit too much to ask since I'm already holding back on… well that…" she said biting her lip.

Loki cupped her face in his hand. "There's no rush, Catherine, I don't mind waiting for that. We have eternity." He really hoped they wouldn't have to wait _that_ long. "As long as you're here with me, I'm happy," he smiled at her. He pulled back and ran his hands down his armour. Immediately it vanished and he wore simple black sleeping pants and no shirt.

Catherine moved further across the bed to give him room as she opened the duvet for him. Loki crawled inside the bed and for a moment the two just lay there looking at each other. Loki smiled across at her and took her hand under the covers. Smiling, she shuffled over and rolled onto her side, squeezing his hand once before letting go, lying with her back facing him.

Taking a chance, Loki shuffled closer himself and wrapped an arm over Catherine's waist, snuggling closer. "Is this okay?" he asked quietly near her ear.

Catherine snuggled back against his chest and nodded. "It's perfect."

**Author's Note: **Couldn't resist some fluff there… and hey a Loki POV chapter! I shall return to Catherine next chapter!


	13. Loki's Story

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twelve_

Catherine awoke the next day extremely warm and comfortable. As she blinked into consciousness she felt something strong and warm around her waist. She rolled over onto her back to see what it was and smiled. Loki lay next to her asleep, his arm now across her stomach and his sleeping face very close to hers. She smiled remembering the events of the previous day. It was by no means perfect but she had her Loki again even if things were different.

She gently brought the back of her hand to stroke his cheek softly. He looked so different, his hair was longer and his eyes spoke of more cares and worries than she'd first realised. She leant in so their noses were touching and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his sleeping breath on her lips. She longed to kiss him but didn't wish to wake him up. Instead she ran a hand gently across his arm feeling the stronger muscle that was not there. Loki had bulked up since she'd last seen him in Asgard and she admired it quietly.

She felt him shift around her and saw his eyes flicker open. He looked around him and settled on her face with a soft sleepy smile. The arm that lay pinned beneath him, he moved so that it encircled Catherine. She smiled at the feeling of being inside his arms. She brought a hand to his face. "Good morning," she whispered.

"Good morning to you…" he whispered back before placing a kiss on her lips. She reached up and pulled his face closer to hers as she kissed him back. Her hands moved through his hair, gently tugging it as they kissed. He moaned deep into her mouth and she let out a squeak of surprise as his hands began to stroke her sides softly. She pulled back from his kiss slowly and he gently stroked her sides again, watching her intently. "It's alright, I know…" he whispered reassuringly.

Catherine looked up at him with a slight smile. "Thank you for understanding."

Loki leant in and kissed her forehead. "You've been through a lot so I know it'll take time."

Catherine smiled brighter at that and pulled him in for another kiss. This time they both wrapped their arms tightly around the other as they kissed lovingly. They continued kissing for some time before Catherine pulled away again.

"We should get up," she said. "I believe you need to fill me in on this plan of yours," she said smiling up at him playfully.

XMARVELX

Whilst Catherine dressed, Loki had ordered some of his workers to go out and buy some food for breakfast and some clothes and necessities for Catherine. She couldn't go round in the same outfit all the time even if Loki could change it every day. She needed to be able to have her own things here. He still needed to secure their second base for sure but he hadn't been able to resist spending some intimate time with Catherine this morning. He figured he'd explain the plan over breakfast. Hopefully she'd be as supportive as she had been on Asgard.

He approached one of the computers and began scanning areas for a suitable replacement base; preferably one which wasn't so plain and basement like. He had a lot of people working for him now so it would be better to get a big place, maybe one in which the workers could live thus he could increase the work done on the Tessaract if they lived on site. He examined the possible locations in their current state and then widened the search. He engineered the search to find places far away from any hospitals, police stations and fire services. Basically he wanted the location to be a barely accessible place. It would be easier for them to use the hovercraft to fly in and out and he could easily camouflage their travel wherever they went. In the event S.H.I.E.L.D did track them down, the lack of easy access would give them time to move somewhere else.

A string of blue beeping signalled a few possible locations turning up. Loki examined the places. They included; Vermont, a town in Southern France, some villages in Romania, rural area in China and some wilder parts of New Zealand. Loki looked at each of the locations thoughtfully before noticing something on the map. He'd also run a search for locations of the parts that would be needed to build the portal. A city in Germany flagged up named Stuttgart. According to the map it contained iridium and Loki was almost certain that would be needed to keep the portal open long enough for the Chitauri forces to come through. The other parts they needed were quite easy to obtain so there wasn't really anywhere else they had to go.

Loki examined the map again. France would be their best bet. If S.H.I.E.L.D latched onto their presence in Germany, they would expect their base location to be nearby, not in another country. Loki examined the place in France. It was a large manor house, in the valley between some of the mountains. There were no other houses around and it was a long trek for any emergency services to get to which was a bonus. The house was empty, not having been sold yet. Loki grinned at that and then proceeded to print off the address before snatching the paper up and walking over to Erik who was examining the Tessaract.

"This is our new base. Hack into whatever you have to, just make sure no one knows about the place. We don't want any visitors."

Erik nodded. "I'll take it off the estate agent's radar," he said and began hacking.

"Have the men start shipping the equipment out there today. We'll leave tomorrow." Loki decided as he spoke. There was no point hanging round in this dump longer than was necessary. He ought to be living like a King and Catherine too.

He checked the time, his search had taken about forty minutes and it would be a while before the other humans would return with Catherine's new things and food for breakfast so he found himself approaching the Tessaract and examining it thoughtfully. However he quickly grew tired of this and decided to head back to the bedroom to check on Catherine.

XMARVELX

Whilst Loki was out, Catherine dressed and looked around the room some more. There was a large en suite bathroom though it wasn't really all that much. Catherine found herself missing her apartment back in Asgard but you couldn't have everything. Well, she certainly couldn't anyway. She wandered around the bedroom. Apart from a lavish bed, some chairs with a wardrobe, and a small dining table and chairs, there wasn't much else to the room really. Sitting on the bed, Catherine found herself bored.

She touched her dress and examined it. What had turned out to be a memorial gown was now nothing more than a pretty black dress; one that was far too fancy to be wearing around here. Catherine brought a hand to the bodice and concentrated hard, not needing to chant this time. She looked down and smiled. Her dress had changed to a long sleeved blue jumper and a black skirt falling to her knees. She touched her fingers to her hair and felt the magic remove the knots and tangles from it.

She sat there for a while before the door opened and she looked up to see Loki walking in. He paused in the doorway, looking at her curiously. She blushed a little at his gaze. "What?" she asked.

"Where did you get those clothes?" Loki asked, closing the door behind him.

Catherine looked down at herself and touched the jumper lightly. Her outfit returned to the form of the long black dress with the green bodice. She looked up tentatively at him.

Loki's eyes widened. "Magic?" he said staring at the outfit. His eyes met hers and a big smile lit up his face. "You learnt magic?"

Catherine got to her feet and nodded with a smile. "Yes, thanks to you."

Loki approached her with raised eyebrows. "I never imagined you'd continue learning without me. That is impressive… Of course you should be able to do this after two years," he mused.

"Actually I didn't start learning magic until seven months ago. I started studying at night, to keep my mind occupied. " Catherine explained.

Loki gently took some of the material of her gown in his hands. "You have only been learning magic for seven months and you can do spells like this without chanting?"

"I was pretty determined and focused. I couldn't allow myself to brood," said Catherine.

Loki laughed a little as he circled the outfit. "Oh but this is very good, Catherine. I'm impressed." He turned to look at her again. "You were studying this on top of physical training?"

"Physical training doesn't require a great deal of mental concentration," smirked Catherine and Loki laughed loudly at that. He walked up to her and cupped her face in his hands.

"Oh how I've missed your wit," he said grinning before kissing her. He slid his hands down to her sides and she wrapped her arms around him with a grin.

"Well I did learn from you," she murmured playfully.

"Nonsense, you had a sharp tongue before we became friends," Loki chuckled. "Don't blame me."

Catherine giggled a little. It felt so nice to be able to joke with Loki again even if she was still half waiting for something to go wrong between them again. She leant in to kiss Loki again when there was a knock on the door. They both pulled back reluctantly and Catherine quickly returned her outfit to the jumper and skirt. Loki opened the door using his magic. Some of the workers stood there with white bags.

"Have you got it all?" Loki demanded.

The two women nodded and bowed their heads. "Yes, Master. Everything you requested."

Loki took the bags and gave them to Catherine. "I had them get you some things. They won't be as glorious as your Asgard clothing but I'm sure you can transform them," he said with a grin.

Catherine chuckled. "I certainly can."

"Breakfast will be brought in soon once the preparation is finished," said one of the women. "Will there be anything else, Master?" she added.

Loki waved her away. "No. Go back to your desks and work. We have a busy schedule." The two women left promptly and Loki turned to Catherine. "I'll tell you everything over breakfast. We're in the early stages of the plan and we'll be moving bases soon."

"What a shame," Catherine muttered dryly, whilst smirking. "Hovels are the new castles you know?"

Loki grinned and took the bags from her, tossing them onto the bed and pulling Catherine into his arms. "You want to watch that wit, you'll cut yourself."

"I'm very careful," Catherine murmured before Loki captured her lips in a searing kiss. She moaned against his mouth, letting him pull her tightly against him. Her hands stroked his face and neck as they enjoyed the kiss, the privacy of being almost one with each other. She moved her hands to his shoulders as Loki trailed kisses down her neck. She giggled a little at a ticklish spot and gasped as he gently bit down there. She gripped his shoulders harder. "Loki…" she tilted her head back and he kissed up her neck, along her jaw and met her lips again. His hand which was supporting her back, pressed her even closer and the other hand, held the back of her head as they kissed passionately.

Feeling a strong urge to take control, Catherine gently pushed Loki back against the wall and pressed herself against him, intensifying their kiss. His hands roamed over her back as he returned the kiss. Her hand slid around his neck whilst the other tugged his hair back. He groaned in her mouth and she grinned against his lips. The need to breathe rose up in them both and, groaning loudly, they pulled back from each other, breathless and staring intensely at each other.

Catherine laid her forehead against Loki's cheek, rather tired out from the intense kissing. Loki's arms wrapped around her and held her head and back close to him. They both took a moment to catch their breath before Loki gently tilted his face and kissed Catherine's cheek gently. She looked up at him with a smile.

A knock sounded on the door and Catherine stepped back immediately trying to cool her face which she was sure was flushed red and tidy her hair. Loki was grinning slightly at her efforts. He gently lowered her hands and ran a hand through her hair, using magic to tidy it up.

Loki then smiled at Catherine as a strange blue change began to take over him. Catherine's eyes narrowed for a moment before she saw the red eyes and blue skin as Loki took his Frost Giant form for the first time in front of her. She blinked in surprise and reached up to touch his face. A look of wariness crossed his face and she smiled reassuringly.

"Never before have I seen a Frost Giant that was so beautiful," she told him. His face lit up in a smile and he pressed the back of his hand against her face, lightly cooling the skin. He then turned back into his Asgardian form and took her hands.

"You really weren't repulsed…?" he asked.

"No," she assured him. "You're the sexiest Frost Giant I've ever seen. When you take that form; all you are to me is Loki with blue skin and beautiful red eyes." Catherine told him earnestly. Loki brought Catherine into a hug at those words and Catherine snuggled into him, momentarily forgetting the knock at the door.

Loki pulled away and opened the door with his magic. "Yes?"

"Your breakfast is ready, Master" said one of the women leading a cart of fruit and bread.

XMARVELX

Once the two of them were seated at the table and the women had left, Loki poured him and Catherine some water and glanced up at her. She smiled back at him as she cut up some of her bread and buttered it. He moved his hand lightly over an apple, magically slicing it which made her laugh lightly. Taking a piece into his mouth, he grinned at her.

"I can't decide if you're lazy or just a show off," Catherine joked as she nibbled on her bread.

"I prefer the term sexy and magical," Loki smirked back.

"I think you're all four," grinned Catherine.

"Have you gotten cheekier in my absence?" Loki asked before realising what he'd said. Catherine's face fell at the question and she took a sip of water as she looked down. He winced. "I'm sorry, that was in really bad taste." He couldn't help it though. He was just so surprised that someone had mourned him that much. Catherine looked up at him after finishing the slice of bread she was eating.

"So you were going to tell me about your plan," she said as she cut up a pear.

Loki was grateful for the change of conversation. "Ah yes, well to begin, I'll tell you about what happened after I fell from the BiFrost. Well, I'll try to anyway. So much happened that it's impossible to tell two years of a life in exact detail."

"Of course," Catherine nodded. "So where did you end up?"

Loki found himself staring into space as he began his story. "It was a dark abyss and at first I could see nothing. Gradually it turned to a cold, barren, rocky planet. It was the planet of the Chitauri. They're a race not of the Nine Worlds and unheard of by many other races too. They're warriors and vicious ones at that. They crave power, exploration and victory over all other races" he explained. "When I landed, they took me prisoner for six weeks; long weeks of torture and isolation in their barren wasteland of a home planet. Eventually I let slip that I was from Asgard during one of their painful torture sessions. When I say painful Catherine, I mean it. The Chitauri have ways of putting people in such agony that they make people dream of the pain that is common to battle or human methods of torture. The Chitauri excel at bringing someone to the brink of death with pain alone."

Catherine sat there looking horrified. "Why didn't you just tell them what they wanted to know? You had no allegiance to Asgard at that point."

Loki looked up at her. "Oh but I did. You; I thought if I told them where I was from, they would invade and they'd come after you and kill you along with everyone else. I don't give a damn what happens to the others but I couldn't let them kill you. However in the end I told them anyway reluctantly though."

Catherine's face dropped in horror as she brought a hand to her mouth. "You were trying to protect me?" she asked. "You put up with their torture for six weeks because you were protecting me."

"Of course I did," said Loki. "I did it because I love you. I could not allow them to hurt you. But as it turned out even when I did tell them, they had no wish to cross Odin's path. Instead they offered me a chance to live as they lived, see other worlds, have access to knowledge that even Asgardians were restricted to. I was hungry for that knowledge and my desire to see other worlds was great. So for the next ten months or so, I travelled with them across the stars, scavenging treasures, discovering more about the universe." Loki looked up at Catherine before he continued. "About a year ago, the Chitauri started forming this plan. They asked me if I would go to Midgard and bring them back the Tessaract. They said they would clear the debt I owed them from the kindness they showed me. I reminded them of my imprisonment and told them that I would not go to Midgard for a meagre errand. I took my chance when I realised what they were prepared to do to get the Tessaract. I told them that I would go and give it to them if they provided me with an army so I could conquer the planet for myself. I would rule Midgard and they would have the Tessaract. It seemed a good deal."

Catherine sat there looking stunned. "They must have thought you powerful, to give in to your demands like that," she pointed out. "Why didn't you use your magic to defend yourself when you were being tortured?"

"Sometimes you have to play things with your cards close to your chest, Catherine," said Loki. "By withholding my power, they underestimated me."

"But you were in so much pain…" Catherine said as she reached across for his hand. He took hers and kissed it gently.

"It was worth it because after the torture weeks were over; I knew I was strong enough to survive anything. I knew I had them where I wanted them. Now, I have a great plan that will give not only me, but us a new kingdom to rule together." Loki said squeezing her hand. "And so my plan is already beginning."

Catherine blinked up at him. "So what is your plan then?"

"I've stolen the Tessaract. I need to open a portal to let the Chitauri forces through. Once I do that and conquer Earth, the deal is that they can have the Tessaract." Loki explained. "I am a man of my word, Catherine. I will give them the Tessaract but not before I have duplicated it and not before I am sure that Midgard is ours for the ruling."

XMARVELX

Catherine sat there in shock. Loki's plan was so extreme. She knew there should be a part of her that pitied the humans, a part that cried no at the thought of enslaving them. But the truth was that Catherine didn't really care about them. They were nothing to her and frankly she knew enough Midgardian history to know that they were very good at warring with each other. There were always problems on this planet unlike Asgard. Humans just didn't know how to live with each other in peace. Maybe they did need someone like Loki to guide them. She ate an apple thoughtfully before swallowing and drinking some water.

"How's the plan going so far?" she asked.

Loki ate another apple slice and shrugged. "As well as can be expected I should think. We're well on our way to getting the parts for the machine that will open the portal using the Tessaract." He took a swig of water and then leant back in his chair. "So," he paused. "What do you think?"

Catherine clasped her hands in her lap and leant back herself. "Well, I think it's a good plan. I don't particularly care for Midgardians much. I don't really understand why you'd want to rule a race that doesn't seem to learn from its mistakes. But I suppose the planet would be in better shape with you ruling over them," she conceded.

"With _us_ ruling over them," Loki corrected. "This isn't just about me now. I want you by my side all the way. I want you for my Queen of Midgard, Catherine. This kingdom will be ours. As for why I want to rule this planet; because it will be easy. Admittedly there are aspects of humanity I find entertaining and I don't see the point in leading a race that bores you. We can have everything we desire here and a permanent alliance with the powerful Chitauri. Why not Midgard?"

Catherine smiled a little bit. "I suppose there is that. I'm sure that eventually I'd get used to living here," she said looking around. "Even you have to admit it's nowhere near as grand as Asgard."

Loki laughed and kissed her hand. "Maybe not now but in time, this kingdom will become even greater than Asgard."

Catherine laughed soundly. "Such high aspirations you have, Loki."

"Don't I always?" He grinned at her over his goblet. "So what do you say? Are you going to join me? Are you going to help me raise some merry hell on this gods-forsaken planet?"

Catherine smiled mischievously. "You know what? I think I will," she said turning her smile into a smirk.


	14. Intimacy Issues

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirteen_

"Humble slaves!" Loki called to his followers that same afternoon. He stood on a raised step looking down over them all as they gathered before him. "It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, the future Queen of your planet; the lady Catherine!" he announced with his arm around a tentative Catherine who offered a serene smile to the slaves. "You will obey her as you do me and you will respect her as you do me. If you displease her then you will displease me and pay the price," Loki finished with a thundering tone to his voice.

"Yes Master!" The humans chorused and Loki grinned a little maniacally.

"Very good. Now get back to work! Except Barton and Selveig, come here!" he commanded. All but the two named went back to their desks and Loki approached the two left behind. Catherine looked over the two men. Erik, she knew from the first day she arrived and now she got a good look at him. He had short white hair and a round grandfatherly face. His eyes were a shimmering blue, an almost unnatural blue. Catherine narrowed her eyes in curiosity before turning to the other man.

He wore all black and had short cropped light copper-ish hair. His eyes too were an unnaturally bright blue, the same as Selveig's. Catherine wondered why that was and resolved to ask Loki later. She continued to scrutinize Barton; he seemed a little short but he was well built though with a touch of lean strength about him.

"Catherine," Loki had turned to her. "This is Agent Barton, a former S.H.I.E.L.D operative."

Catherine walked forwards and offered her hand. "Nice to meet you. " She looked to Loki. "What's S.H.I.E.L.D?" she asked confused. Barton gave her hand a firm shake before bowing his head briefly.

"The organisation trying to stop our plans. They specialise in backing human freaks with strange powers," said Loki. "I'll give you all the information on them on our way to our next base." He then turned to Erik Selveig. "I believe you two have sort of met. This is Erik Selveig, our resident astrophysicist and the one directly working with the Tessaract." Catherine offered her hand to Erik and he took it, bowing his head and kissing her hand lightly.

"My Queen," he murmured.

Loki grinned. "Very good Selveig. Is everything going to plan?"

"Yes we've managed to secure the house. Half our equipment is already there, being set up. We're awaiting communication with them anytime now." Erik said with a nod.

Catherine turned to look at Loki. "Would it not be better to send the rest of the equipment during the night? It might be less noticed and if anything goes wrong when we set off, we can deal with it without worrying about the transports carrying the equipment too. That way when we get to the house, it will all be set up."

Loki watched her with a small smile. "That is a good idea, though we need to determine how much equipment we can afford to send off without delaying our proceedings too much."

"My laptop and the Tessaract are all that I will need for tonight's work, Master," said Erik. "Anything else can go on ahead. The workers would be able to set things up quicker."

Loki glanced around him then turned back to Selveig. "Very well, make it happen." As Erik walked off, Loki turned to Barton. "Go with the rest of the team and oversee things. Make sure no one slacks off or tries anything stupid. If they do, kill them." Barton nodded and turned around, walking away. Loki turned back to Catherine with an amused smirk. "You are a clever girl…" he murmured walking up to her and placing his hands on her hips. "My clever Queen…"

His hands began to rub circles on her hips. They moved in a rotating circle around the sides of her thighs. When his fingers grazed her rear, Catherine jumped as though she'd had an electric shock. She stepped away from Loki and looked down unsure what to say. She briefly glanced back up at him, seeing disbelief in his face.

"I wasn't doing anything," he said, his voice pained and annoyed at the same time. "I wasn't going to do anything; there was no need to jump like that!" His voice rose with a growing irritation.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Catherine said, looking at the floor.

"You need to be careful Catherine; because you're sending me mixed signals here. You don't want to get physical with me yet, you don't want me touching you in certain places but you were happy to press _me_ into the wall earlier and push _yourself_ against me. Forgive me if I have this wrong, but that seems a little contradictory to me." Loki spoke with anger.

Catherine was stung but she knew he was right. "You're right, Loki. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten carried away before. It's not fair on you."

Loki looked at her in disbelief. "Oh well that's big of you to say."

Catherine looked up sharply. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry. Since I've been sending you mixed messages; let's have sex and make up for it?" she asked.

Loki narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Oh don't start making me out to be the bad guy. You're the one who can't follow your own rules."

Catherine said nothing but took deep breaths. Loki was right; she wasn't playing fair by asking him to abstain from touching her in certain places when she had quite willingly pushed herself against him earlier. She'd proven she was fine in initiating intimate embraces but she held him back when he made such touches even without the intent to seduce her.

Loki was watching her and he sighed, shaking his head and looking at her perturbed. "You can't have it both ways Catherine. You need to decide what you damn well want and stick to it!" He snapped angrily before storming past her and out into the stony tunnels leading to the outside world.

XMARVELX

Loki was angry; unbelievably angry. He had tried to do what Catherine wanted but then she changed the rules all the time. But when he made a move she didn't like, she flinched like he was going to hit her. It pissed him off to no end and as she made his way to the entrance of the base, he started to slow down. He couldn't go outside, not properly, not in his usual appearance anyway. A shimmer of magic covered him from head to toe transforming his appearance.

Instead of his usual height, he stood at 5"5 and rather than his sleek black hair, he now sported ear length blonde hair. His eyes were no longer emerald but a deep hazel colour. His skin was far more tanned now and instead of his black leather armour, he wore a smart white shirt and jeans with a brown leather jacket over them. He looked the very epitome of mortal.

Walking out of the base, Loki made his way towards the nearest civilisation, anger pulsing out of him as he thought about Catherine's hot and cold treatment. Don't get him wrong, he knew he was having to make things up to Catherine. She'd said it herself, she needed him to prove himself. However, what he _didn't _need was her chopping and changing her mind regarding how intimate she wanted to get. By the gods that was not helpful at all! He had no idea where he could touch her without her objecting. The way she flinched was seared into his brain. What did she think he was going to do; hurt her? The image of her flinching reminded him of the way someone flinched when they were about to experience physical pain. Surely she couldn't think that he ever would do that to her? He had never raised a hand to her before and he never would.

Loki walked quickly and deftly through the growing crowds of the nearby town. He just needed to get away from the base for a few hours, cool off and try to forget about the fact his future Queen couldn't bear to have him touch her, or at least that was what it felt like to him. When she'd first told him she couldn't sleep with him, he had accepted it, been fine with it. He was just happy to have her back but now, not knowing what he could or couldn't do, it was driving him crazy.

He came to a stop, bringing his hands up to his face and sighing loudly. Women could be so damn difficult at times but he'd never imagined Catherine being one of them. She was always so reasonable and considerate. He'd never imagined her to have messed him around like this. Was this some sort of punishment for what he'd done? An extra way to remind him of what he couldn't have just yet? It wasn't like he was gagging for sex but he wanted to be able to touch her without her jumping halfway to Jotunheim. Was that so much to ask?

Maybe those two years dealing with his disappearance and the loss of their son had damaged Catherine somehow. He'd assumed her fear of intimacy had been down to losing their son but maybe she just wasn't able to cope with him trying to touch her or maybe she was just still feeling mixed up about the whole thing. Whatever it was, he wished she would just tell him so he knew where he stood. They were supposed to be a partnership, a team and yet she wouldn't tell him what was really going through her head. Did she think he would judge her?

Loki growled to himself and looked up at the sky, removing his hands from his face. Why could this one thing not be easy for him? He looked back down at the ground and spotted a pub on the corner of the street. Pausing to seriously consider the prospect of going in and ordering a Midgardian drink, Loki eventually decided to go inside.

The pub was warm and decorated heavily with wooden panels and laminated flooring. The wallpaper between the panels was a soft red with candle lanterns hanging off the walls. Loki looked around in distaste. The pub was reasonably filled with couples, friends and the odd loner drinking and chatting. Making his way to the bar, he glanced at the drinks list and immediately used his magic to summon money from thin air into his wallet. Well it wouldn't have come from thin air, more like someone else's pocket on the other side of the globe.

When the bar tender turned to him, Loki leant his chin on one hand and said in a casual tone. "Single malt whisky," he said. He remembered Erik mentioning it was a favourite drink of his. He may as well try it. When the barman brought it, Loki handed the money over and took a swig of the dark liquid. He pulled a face. That was a sharp drink and an unusual taste, he didn't know what to think of it. Throwing caution to the wind, Loki drank the rest and swirled it round in his mouth before swallowing. The sensation of the alcohol hung around in his mouth and summoning more money to his pockets, Loki soon ordered another one.

XMARVELX

Catherine sat in her room clutching her magic book, trying to ignore thoughts of Loki's rage and failing dismally. She couldn't exactly blame him for snapping but to storm out the way he did? That seemed a bit worrying. Still, she wasn't sure what exactly they would have said to each other next if he did stay anyway.

She turned back to her book and focused on the spell she was trying to learn. It was a teleportation spell and she knew immediately this would be a pretty damn hard one to learn. It would have been a lot easier to learn with Loki around but she had pretty much blown that opportunity right out of the water. She would just have to study the theory hard. Now was not the time to practice anything too big. She could try teleporting across the room but there was still the fear that she'd get it wrong and end up all the way across the country. No, she couldn't practice this one now. She could only read the theory. But even after a few attempts to read, her mind wandered back to Loki. Sighing she gave up and tossed the book to the floor.

She looked down at her hands. Was she being unreasonable withholding sex from Loki? It wasn't like they hadn't done it before, several times in fact, on several occasions. But there was a part of her that just wanted to hold off doing it again. Yes it was because of needing to trust Loki's love for her again but it was also the fact that being intimate with him could lead to another baby and she wasn't sure she was ready for that. But she had messed him about… She lay back on the bed and rolled over, resting her head in her arms.

XMARVELX

Nine more whiskeys later and Loki decided that the pub was not as exciting as he first thought; which was admittedly not a lot but still it was rather dull in there. The alcohol was slowly taking effect, blocking out his thoughts of Catherine but not enough to render him completely useless and defenceless. He wasn't that stupid. However he was feeling a bit tired now. It was time to return home. Stepping outside the pub, Loki was reminded of the long trek back to the base.

Rolling his eyes Loki almost scoffed at himself. He was a talented user of magic. He could teleport back to base if he wanted and he would. He wasn't going to stay in this pathetic little town longer than necessary. Rolling up his sleeves, Loki concentrated as best as he could, imagining the base before disappearing in a shimmering whirl of light.

He crashed into some bushes outside of the base, rolling undignified out of them, covered in scratches and bruises. Struggling to get to his feet he found a powerful urge to throw up, rising in him. He stumbled and fell to the floor where he then proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach. He could hear shouts as the guards noticed the disturbance in the bushes. Swearing under his breath, he backed into the bushes and sat down, waiting for his head to stop spinning.

Maybe teleporting under the influence of alcohol had been a bad idea. He slowly stood up, emerging out of the bushes, only to face a group of armed guards. He smirked a little. Bit slow on the uptake but at least they were doing their job. They'd only be flogged for this. He closed his eyes and returned to his original appearance. The guards immediately backed off, apologising profusely. Loki smirked even more before extending his hands. The guards began to writhe in pain at the magical torture inflicted upon them. He then ended it after a few minutes before stumbling towards the entrance to the base. His head felt rotten but it was clearing up.

Once he was deep inside the base, he made his way to the bedroom where he spotted Catherine lying asleep under the covers. He kicked off his boots and used his magic to remove his armour before climbing in next to her and shuffling to the other side of the bed from her. He had no desire to snuggle tonight. He had no desire to do anything but sleep.

**Author's Note: **So… the moral of this story is… if you are Loki, do not drink and teleport. Scrapes and embarrassments may ensue. That's both the lead characters who cannot be trusted with alcohol. Can you imagine if they _both _got drunk? Hell on Earth/Midgard much?


	15. Moving house and uncertain relations

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Fourteen_

Catherine stirred from sleep early the next morning to the sound of footsteps, voices and the sound of metal being taken apart. Confused, she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. What was going on? She glanced over at the other side of the bed and saw Loki sleeping there with his back to her. Remembering their argument from yesterday, Catherine let out a sad sigh and got up, making her way to the bathroom, grabbing some clothes along the way. She locked the bathroom door and stripped off before stepping into the very hot shower waiting for her.

She let out a sigh of contentment at the feel of the hot water washing over her back and chest. She washed her face, trying to wake herself up more. The noise of the shower blocked out any thoughts and she just made the most of not having to think for a little while. Ten minutes later she slowly climbed out and dried herself off. Changing into a short black dress with the holes in the shoulders instead of sleeves, Catherine brushed her hair quickly and stepped back out into the bedroom.

Loki was sat up in bed, rubbing his head. He looked up as she entered and she froze in the doorway, unsure of what to say. She moved into the room and reached for a jacket putting it on, mainly for something to do than actual necessity.

"Where are you going?" Loki asked sleepily.

"I'm going to see if Erik needs any help with the Tessaract." Catherine said as she shrugged the jacket on. She avoided looking at Loki's face.

"You're a Queen; that's not your job," Loki pointed out.

"It's something to do," Catherine said tersely.

"Breakfast will be ready soon," said Loki getting out of bed.

"I'm going to give it a miss," Catherine said finally turning to him.

"You mean, giving _me _a miss," said Loki heading to the shower. "At least _try_ and be honest." He disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Catherine took a deep breath and headed out into the hall.

It was so empty compared to last night. Up ahead, Erik was putting the Tessaract into a solid silver suitcase. Catherine watched as he took the stand the Tessaract had been on and dismantled it. Approaching him slowly, Catherine reached his side in seconds and turned to him.

"I'll take the Tessaract," she said holding her hand out for the suitcase. Erik looked a bit surprised but handed it to her. She took it firmly; the suitcase was heavier than she'd thought. She turned and headed back to the bedroom. She put the suitcase on the bed and grabbed the bag that the workers had bought her and began to pack her things into it. By the time she was finished, Loki was emerging from the shower in a towel around his waist. He paused when he saw her.

"I'll get changed in the bathroom. I wouldn't want you thinking I was trying to seduce you or anything." He spoke softly but with an edge to his tone that Catherine really didn't like.

Catherine looked up in annoyance. "Loki!"

He ignored her and Catherine sat on the bed looking defeated. When he finally came out, she glanced up at him but he was looking past her at the suitcase.

"Why have you got the Tessaract?" he asked, marching over.

"I thought it would be safe with us," she said looking up in confusion.

"I'd prefer it in the hands of the astrophysicist," Loki said, picking up the suitcase and marching to the door with it.

"Is that because that's actually what you think or because you don't trust me with it?" Catherine asked sharply.

Loki ignored her and left the room.

XMARVELX

Everything was packed up on the hovercraft and Loki was talking with Erik on the other side of the room. Catherine leant against the wall, arms folded and staring at the ceiling. This was going to be an uncomfortable ride, in the middle of a fight with Loki and surrounded by human strangers. She exhaled in annoyance before thinking back over the previous day's fight.

Somehow she didn't get the sense that Loki was quite as alright about the no sex aspect of their relationship as he had previously claimed. The thought tore her up inside because she knew that that meant something would have to give in their relationship; either she would have to sleep with him to keep him happy or risk losing him again.

She didn't know what to do and she hated this uncertainty. She twirled a finger in her hair thoughtfully, wondering what she could say or do to make this situation better. Living with the tension was annoying and yet it was preferable to another fight. She couldn't decide if she was a pacifist or just a plain coward. She didn't hear the footsteps until Loki spoke.

"It's time to go."

Catherine lowered her head and looked at him firmly for a moment. "You sure you want me to come? I mean you never know what ideas I might get in my head."

Loki glared at her. "Don't you paint me as the villain of this peace; you're the one getting twitchy one minute and jumping me the next." Catherine's lips shook for a moment before she tightened her mouth and looked away briefly. She turned back to him and frowned.

"I apologised for that. You didn't want to hear it."

Loki shook his head. "I don't know whether to believe you; you don't seem to know what you want. You haven't even told me why you don't want us to have a physical relationship in the first place."

Catherine frowned even more. "I'm just not ready…"

Loki scoffed. "Oh come on, Catherine! It's not like you're a virgin anymore! In fact you were pretty damn talented for a beginner; now's not the time to be getting coy-" he began but Catherine's hand swung out of nowhere and slapped him hard across the face.

Catherine glared at him. "It's time to go." She stormed off towards the hovercraft.

XMARVELX

The flight over the Atlantic Ocean was hell. No one spoke for the six hours it took them to get the France (aided by Loki's magic to speed things up) and there was an uncomfortable silence between Catherine and Loki. The worst thing about the argument was that Catherine knew Loki had a point. She hadn't been totally honest with him and she had, however unintentionally, messed him about. She could understand his anger and yet she hated it so much. She felt the need to defend herself but what she really hated was that this rift was down to her. But her pride wouldn't allow her to do anything about it to remedy the situation.

When they began their descent, Catherine looked out the window and saw the manor house for the first time. It was truly beautiful and stood out amongst the hills and forests surrounding the area. It was made of a smooth white marble and long lush lawns stretched out before it, behind it and around it. There was an orchard in the back garden and exquisite flower arrangements in the front. The closer they got, the bigger Catherine realised it was. There were at least three floors to it and those floors stretched out quite a bit. The hovercraft descended ahead of the gates and everyone began to disembark and look around the place.

Loki smirked up at it. "Oh yes this will definitely do for now. Do you not agree, Catherine?" he asked, a cool edge to his tone that clearly stated she should at least be polite. She ignored the look and shrugged glancing around with a look of boredom.

"It's certainly big," she said and folded her arms. Loki's face fell in anger and he turned and stalked towards the house, his workers following him. Catherine turned and began to wander around the gardens exploring the landscape.

XMARVELX

Loki quickly had the team set up the Tessaract and gave Barton and Erik instructions on the next stage of the plan; begin construction of the dimension splitter with their current parts. He then left them to it and wandered out of the hall that had been converted into a laboratory and along the corridors. They were richly decorated with wooden panels and expensive tapestries of gold and green. He'd had the colours tweaked whilst walking around the place earlier. Now the place was much more to his liking. He could feel like a proper King now.

The third floor would be his and Catherine's quarters. There were two large bedrooms, ensuite bathrooms, a study and a large drawing room. Everyone else would live on the first two floors and share rooms where needed. Loki hadn't initially planned on using the second bedroom on his and Catherine's floor but with the way things were between them, they probably would be using both.

Loki made his way outside and found Catherine wandering around the orchard looking rather peaceful as she admired the fruits of the trees. He paused and leant against one of the two columns standing outside the door, watching her. He couldn't help it. She hadn't seen him yet and he could easily bet she wouldn't look so relaxed if she knew he was staring at her. His eyes travelled over her body taking in her appearance. He hadn't really gotten a proper look at her since their reunion. Her hair was definitely longer and darker, less red than it had been before; or so it seemed anyway. She was thinner than before, noticeably so as though she hadn't eaten properly though he supposed that it was all the training she did as well that was making her fitter.

Her face was tranquil now but there was something sad about her eyes as though she were gazing at something she could never have. It pained Loki to see her looking so sad but then he reminded himself of why he was keeping his distance. They weren't on real speaking terms and he hated it but he also hated the fact that he didn't know where he stood with her. He turned to go back inside when something occurred to him, something that he should talk to her about. He turned around and walked down the steps and approached Catherine.

XMARVELX

Catherine watched as Loki crossed the grounds towards her. She turned to face him and her face became serious as she stood still waiting for him.

"We will be dining soon. Dinner is being prepared as we speak," Loki informed her.

Catherine nodded. "I've no intention of having dinner tonight so there will be no need to wait for me," she said simply.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "You didn't eat this morning either."

"I don't particularly have an appetite today," Catherine responded with a shrug.

Loki released an annoyed breath. "Fine, suit yourself." He turned and walked across the grounds away from her.

"I will thanks," Catherine said and turned to go in a different direction when suddenly Loki spun around and snapped.

"Why do you have to be so bloody difficult?!" he demanded.

Catherine looked around. "I'm not being difficult."

"Yes you are; you won't eat with me, you won't even come near me…" Loki growled.

"I thought you didn't want any mixed messages?" Catherine retorted, mentally kicking herself for winding him up. Loki's eyes flashed with anger at her words.

"Oh don't be so ridiculous! You know very well what I meant by that! You're the one with the issues here, not me!" Loki cried out angrily.

Catherine bit her lip and found that tears were springing to her eyes. She blinked them away incessantly and turned away from Loki. "I know…" she said quietly. "I've apologised for the mixed messages but I don't know what else I can say," she said looking back round at him once she'd gotten her tears under control.

Loki's face softened. He walked up to her and took her elbows in his hands. "You can tell me why you don't want to have sex with me for a start," he said looking into her eyes.

Catherine bit her lip. "I thought you were willing to wait," Catherine whispered.

"I am but surely I have a right to know why you're being so jumpy and hot and cold?" Loki whispered. "Catherine, tell me please…" Catherine looked down at her feet only to feel Loki's hand draw her chin up to look at him. "Catherine, please look at me when I'm talking to you. Tell me," he murmured gently, his thumb caressing her chin.

"I… I don't want to make things worse between us…" Catherine admitted.

"Just tell me; you won't… I won't let things become worse…" said Loki gently. He moved his hand to her cheek and stroked it gently. "Tell me, Catherine."

She swallowed hard. "You know that I want to believe you love me, don't you?"

Loki frowned. "What… you still don't believe me?" he asked. "I do love you."

"Loki, I said it would take time but it's not exactly what I meant by bringing it up," said Catherine. "Believe me, I want to believe that you do and give me time… I'll believe it truly if you can prove things won't end up as they did last time," Catherine said. "I don't want to fall for this love again and then end up hurt because you might end up giving up on me again."

Loki brought his other hand to her face and leant his forehead against hers. "Catherine, I would never do that to you again, I never gave up and I'd never hurt you like that again."

Catherine sniffed. "I know you mean that but in my head, I'm just so scared it'll happen again and… I can't have a physical relationship with you whilst I have all these doubts in my head," she said shakily. "It's not fair on you either and I just can't…" Loki was looking down at her in despair at her words. She sniffed and felt tears trickle down her face. He just stared at her not bothering to wipe them away. "I knew it… I knew I'd make things worse; Loki… I'm so so sorry…" she said slowly dissolving into tears.

Loki just looked into her eyes sadly. "I didn't realise those doubts were so strong; that you were so scared of me letting you down."

"It's not just that, Loki. If it was… maybe I'd find it easier to get back in the saddle… so to speak…" Catherine said, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. "I can't handle the thought of getting pregnant again. After what happened with Tyr, the thought terrifies me. Loki I can't do it again, not yet."

Loki's eyes widened. "So it was the stillbirth affecting it after all?"

Catherine sniffed. "It's not just you, it's a few reasons. I just don't feel like a woman anymore, I feel like a wreck that's trying to piece itself back together. But I understand if you'd rather find someone who'd willingly give herself to you-"

Loki cut her words off with a passionate kiss, firm but tender and taking her breath away. She stumbled on the spot but his hands on her face held her up. She kissed him back tearfully not knowing what to make of this sudden action. Loki pulled back after a moment.

"Don't you ever say that again," he said sternly, looking into her eyes. "I will never want anybody else but you, Catherine." He stroked her hair gently. "Not in a million lifetimes."

Catherine managed a tiny smile. "But what about what I just said about the doubts… my fears… Wouldn't you rather have someone you can be intimate with?"

Loki pulled Catherine into his arms. "Catherine, you said yourself that things would be better once you were sure of my love. I won't pretend I'm happy about all these doubts in your head but I can see how I caused them. I want to be intimate with you and only you. I'm willing to wait, as long as it takes, of course I am." He stroked her cheek softly. "But I also need you to not flinch or jump when I touch you. I need you to trust me that I won't make any move that you don't want."

Catherine nodded. "I'll try…" she sniffed against his shoulder. "Loki, I'm so sorry…" Her sobs were drowned against his shoulder as he rocked her gently, kissing her head repeatedly.

"It wasn't just you; I have been hard on you today but it was only because I didn't know why you were being like this. We need to be honest with each other. I need to know what's going on in here, Catherine or I can't help," Loki said tapping Catherine's head. Catherine pulled back with a nod and Loki gently tugged at her hand. "Now are you sure you don't want to dine with me?"

"I'm not hungry," Catherine murmured. She looked up when she felt Loki's hand on her cheek.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked quietly.

She merely smiled softly. "I will be."

XMARVELX

It was evening when Catherine finally arrived at her and Loki's chambers. They were beautiful and reminded her a little bit of Asgard; it was like a little piece of home. She wandered through the drawing room and entered one of the bedrooms. She stopped shyly in the doorway when she saw Loki was already in there stripping off his shirt. He froze and looked around, sensing her presence. He smiled warmly at her and tossed his shirt aside. He walked across to her and took her hands in his before kissing them. She smiled up at him.

"There's another bedroom across the hall if you'd prefer to sleep alone. I can put your stuff there, I was going to but… I'll admit that I'd miss you sleeping by my side." Loki admitted quietly smiling.

Catherine smiled. "I'd quite like my own quarters especially with the en-suite and the wardrobe for my things," she noticed Loki's face fall and smiled brighter at him. "However I would rather share a bed with you than sleep alone in my quarters. Would that be alright?"

Loki grinned in relief and kissed her soundly on the lips. "Of course, I'll just… take your stuff to your room…" he murmured.

Catherine placed a hand on his. "No, I'll do it. I'd like to actually be able to find what I need in my wardrobe," she said playfully and was relieved to see him laugh sheepishly. "I'll be back soon," she said kissing him gently. As she pulled away, her hand lingeringly held his before she left the room.

XMARVELX

Loki lay back in the bed, relieved to have cleared the air with Catherine. His mind felt a lot clearer and focused on his plan now that he didn't have to worry about her too. He wanted his relationship with Catherine to be the thing that gave him the conviction and the drive to succeed. He had something to fight for, just like in the story of Valdemar. He would lay low for a few weeks and then take S.H.I.E.L.D by surprise by bringing merry hell to Midgard.

Resting his head on his hands, arms stretched out behind him, Loki began to imagine the world he'd create when he was King. He would be a great King and he would make this planet great. Having Catherine by his side would be the icing on the cake.

He thought back to their earlier conversation. He wasn't happy that she still had her doubts but she was clearly trying to work through them and though he hated seeing her in such turmoil, he knew she had to resolve those issues. He remembered how supportive she had been when he had discovered his true parentage; he needed to return the favour to her.

"Loki?" Her voice cut into his thoughts and he looked up, seeing her in the doorway; and by the gods did she look beautiful.

She wore a floor length white silk nightgown with black lace above the chest and the straps. Her skin looked like gold compared to the pure whiteness of the dress. As she walked further into the room she kept watching him nervously and after a moment of staring, Loki shook his head and pulled the covers back, inviting her to get in.

She smiled in relief and climbed under the covers. She shuffled so she was next to him and he gently wrapped his arms around her. Her hands landed on his biceps before wrapping around his back. She laid her head on his chest and he shifted on his back so she was more comfortable. He began to stroke her hair soothingly.

"You look beautiful," he murmured.

She looked up at him with a small smile and he took the opportunity to kiss her gently, sweetly and with more love than he'd ever dreamt possible.

**Author's Note: **And on that fluffy note, I end this chapter. Also, I decided to make an official announcement. I have known for a while that I am definitely doing this but I was considering waiting until the end of Lost Souls but I think now is a good time to tell.

For those of you who are enjoying this fic, Catherine and Loki's story will not be over at the end of Lost Souls. I will be doing a third story for these two and already have some big ideas for it. As for what stage Lost Souls is at, I'd say we're nearing the halfway point but I can't be so sure yet. I have so many ideas for these two.


	16. Baby Talk

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Fifteen_

Catherine had been awake for about an hour when she finally head Loki stirring beside her. She'd rolled her nightgown up and was running her hand along the ridges of her stomach remembering when it had been full and round. She remembered the stretch marks afterwards and even now she could see faint lines where they'd been. In a way she was almost glad of the physical reminder of what she had lost; proof that she had a little boy, that she was a mother.

"Catherine?" she heard Loki say as he propped himself up on his elbow. "What are you doing?" Catherine hastily made to cover herself up but Loki's hand quickly covered hers. "Catherine," he said gently. "What were you doing?"

She looked down at her stomach. "Looking at my stretch marks…"

Loki looked confused and glanced down at her stomach. "What stretch marks?" he asked. Catherine gently pointed them out to him. He looked down at them and back up at Catherine. "What's brought this on?" he asked. It clearly stung him to see the stretch marks and be reminded again that he had a son he'd never get to meet. Catherine immediately regretted showing him. She rolled her nightgown back down. Loki's hand caressed her stomach above the nightgown.

"I just… I don't know, I just wanted to see if they were still there; if there was a physical reminder of him…" Catherine murmured. "It sounds silly…"

Loki looked at her with concern in his eyes. "Why are you bringing it to the surface again? Surely it just hurts you more…" he murmured.

Catherine looked up at him. "I guess I just like to remind myself that he was real and… I haven't just dreamt him up. I know it'll hurt but…"

Loki pulled her into his arms. "He was real, and you won't forget him, Catherine, you won't. But you can't torture yourself like this." Catherine nodded, enjoying being in his arms but tinged by the sadness which had left her the last few days. She rested her head on his shoulder and brought the locket up so he could see it. He looked at her quizzically. "What's in the locket?"

"Look," Catherine said quietly.

XMARVELX

Loki managed to reach around Catherine with the arm propping himself up and leant down with the other to open the locket. Inside was a picture of a sleeping baby; or rather a baby that appeared to be sleeping. The child was wrapped in gold; the blanket, Loki recognised as the one Catherine had wrapped Tyr in. Seeing his son for the first time brought several tears to Loki's eyes and he blinked them back as he took a breath. He stared down at the child in amazement.

"Tyr…?" he murmured.

Catherine turned and gently kissed his collarbone comfortingly. "Yes," she said. "I just remembered I hadn't shown it to you." She looked up at him sadly. "I'm not trying to make you sad… I just wanted to talk about..." she began but Loki turned to her.

"He's beautiful," he said. "He's so beautiful just like his mother." He leant in and kissed Catherine's head for a long moment. "It's so real seeing him…"

"He doesn't look like me," said Catherine. "When I see him, I see you," she said smiling sadly.

Loki shook his head. "No, he's definitely his mother's son," he said. "How else could he be so beautiful?"

"Because his father is," said Catherine simply. Loki let the locket drop onto Catherine's chest and brought a hand to her face, kissing her soundly. She returned the kiss gently and they lay like that for a while. Loki held her close and kissed her forehead.

"You don't realise how beautiful you are, do you?" he asked. "I see it and I see that same beauty in him," he told her.

"Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree," smiled Catherine weakly. "Anyway… I hope I didn't make you too sad by bringing it up. I… I just felt like I needed to feel that pain again, to remind myself of him. The last few days have driven it completely from my mind. When I feel that pain, I feel like a mother," Catherine told Loki.

"You are a mother but you can't cling to pain like that, it would destroy you" said Loki. "And yes, you did make me sad by bringing it up," he added but seeing her face fall, he cupped her cheek gently. "But you showed me our son; sad that it is, I know what he looked like now… even if we are going to disagree on who he looks like," he murmured with a slight smile.

Catherine smiled as she leant into his arm bashfully.

**Author's Note: **That was a weird chapter to write. I was gonna add other stuff to it but I think it makes for a good filler scene/chapter rather than a full length chapter. Still, I'm glad I did it, I haven't fully decided how Loki's going to deal with the loss of his son he never knew. I certainly won't be brushing that under the carpet. Right now I think he just doesn't know what to think and it is a lot to come to terms with as well as focusing on his plan. The next chapter will probably be a bit more exciting.


	17. The traitor's fate

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Sixteen_

Later that day, Loki, Catherine and the team leaders of the workforce met in a large panelled study on the ground floor. The Tessaract cube sat in the open suitcase in the centre of the table whilst everyone sat round it. Loki sat at the head of the table with the sceptre and Catherine on his right, watching the cube intently. Erik Selveig sat at the other end of the table and was addressing the group with an update on the material acquirement for the dimension splitter.

"We have located the iridium's exact location easily enough in Stuttgart; on your command we'll go and retrieve it," Erik explained. "There are some other materials in Germany that we can acquire too but we may need to send separate teams at once. If anyone works out what we're up to, it may be too difficult to send another team to get the other materials after the first one's intentions have been exposed. So I propose different teams go for the targets at the same time."

Loki nodded at the reasoning. "Then it shall be done. We need speed and stealth for this operation."

"When will the heists take place?" Catherine asked next to Loki.

"We are still deliberating times," said Barton. "S.H.I.E.L.D are on red alert looking for us right now."

Catherine looked at Loki. "Is there any immediate rush for the Chitauri?" she asked curiously. Loki shot her a slight frown, his eyes searching hers in confusion.

"Not particularly, why?" he asked.

"Well if S.H.I.E.L.D are on red alert looking for us then wouldn't it be better to wait them out? If we wait a few weeks they'll eventually grow tired of waiting for something to happen and their movements will slacken. They'll be disheartened and they won't expect us to suddenly make our move out of nowhere. They'll be disheartened; they'll be used to not trace of us. So when we do make our move, they'll have to scramble around to get organised and by the time they do," she clicked her fingers in a snap. "We'll be gone and moving onto the next stage of our plan."

There was silence around the table at Catherine's words and for a moment she thought she'd suggested something terrible until Barton grinned. "Lady Catherine speaks right; we'd have the element of surprise and a strong advantage. If we can use the people S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't know about to get anything we might need in the meantime, we can continue our progress here." He told the others with relish. "We can use the time to start training more people in combat. If it comes down to a fight with S.H.I.E.L.D we should be ready."

Loki grinned at the talk of getting one up on S.H.I.E.L.D. Under the table his hand grasped Catherine's tightly. He turned to her with a smirk. "The Lady Catherine does indeed have a valuable point. But I want to also add another task to our agenda. I want you, Barton, to track down the planet's brightest prodigies and find a way to gather them in one place. We will take control of them." Loki insisted. "If we're going to be in hiding, we're going to keep busy and stay three steps ahead of S.H.I.E.L.D and their desperate attempts to ruin our plans."

Barton nodded. "Yes sir, it'll be done."

Loki turned to Erik. "Selveig, you keep working with the Tessaract; it's a sentient being in some ways, listen to what it wants."

"Yes sir," said Erik with a nod.

"As for the rest of you, keep hacking into those satellites, keep an eye on anything connected to S.H.I.E.L.D." Loki told them all. "If they get the jump on us, a lot of heads will be rolling right after."

He stood up. "This meeting is concluded. Go back to work," he said and watched as the workers, Erik and Barton left the room to deal with their respective mission. He turned back to Catherine who looked up at him quizzically. He grinned at her and sat down again, taking her hands.

"That was quite a bold move, taking charge like that," he said before leaning down to kiss her hands. "I might have taken it a bit personally," he grinned playfully.

"Feeling like less of a King were we?" Catherine murmured playfully. "Although I might point out I wasn't taking charge over you but over them; that's what a Queen does, right?" she asked smirking. "I don't want them thinking I'm a decorative doll just there for their King's amusement," she said with a slight twinkle in her eyes.

Loki was looking at her in a hungry, sort of wild gaze and she blushed a little bit before squeaking loudly as Loki grabbed her hips and pulled her onto his lap, smiling up at her.

She caught her breath and ran her hands up his chest and into his hair. He pulled her into a powerful kiss and she gasped at the ferocity of his passion. Her hands tangled in his hair and she felt him moan in her mouth as she pulled at his locks.

They kissed intensely for a couple of minutes until a loud crash sounded and they broke apart. Catherine jumped off his lap as Loki grabbed his sceptre and stormed out of the room with Catherine following him.

They soon found the cause of the crash; one of the humans had fallen down the stairs and was lying dizzily on the floor with a bad cut on her head. A medic was already running up to her and checking her vital signs. Loki looked impatiently at them.

"If she's too weak to work, dispose of her," he said.

"No," said the medic. "She doesn't seem to have broken anything or be in a lot of pain."

The woman was already stirring. "I'm alright… I was only halfway up when I fell…" she murmured after a moment. She stopped and froze, looking up at them all in a feral kind of way. Her eyes were wild and red rimmed as though they were sore. Catherine watched the woman curiously as she stood up with the medic's help. She was looking at Loki as though seeing him for the first time. Something began to flash behind her eyes and suddenly her body stiffened.

It all happened so quickly that Catherine's brain didn't have time to keep up. The woman thrust her hands into the black jacket she was wearing over her black jeans and produced two small star shaped objects. In the next moment she had thrown them at Loki before flinging herself after them, her hands now wielding two daggers. As she flew through the air towards Loki who waved his hand vanishing the flying stars inches before they hit his face, the woman proved herself to be quite the gymnast. She kicked out at Loki, her powerful kick sending him backwards before she landed so that she was standing over him. She raised her daggers and made to plunge them into his chest. Whether Loki would have stopped her in time, Catherine didn't know but the next minute was a blur to her.

Instinctively her training was put to good use. She spun on her right leg, jumping up and mid-spin, kicking out with her left and then right foot, sending the daggers flying across the room and far away from Loki's head. No sooner had Catherine landed and the woman turned than Catherine lurched forwards, one arm wrapping around the woman's waist and the other around her neck.

However it seemed the woman had some skills because some smooth footwork and strong kicking at Catherine's legs loosened the choke hold and Catherine felt the woman grab her arm before feeling the bizarre sensation of being thrown forward over the woman's shoulder. Catherine hit the floor hard and just about managed to roll onto her stomach just before the woman's boot landed hard where she had just been.

Catherine could see Loki, through the woman's legs back on his feet righting himself and focusing in her direction when she grabbed one of the woman's legs and brought it up, tripping her to the ground too. Catherine jumped to her feet only for the woman to leap at her tackling her to the floor. The two women crashed to the ground and Catherine groaned; that had hurt. She lay still on the floor and the woman, seeming to think she was defeated, turned to face Loki not seeing Catherine slowly get up.

With a strong spring, Catherine leapt up, taking hold of the chandelier and wrapped her knees around the woman's neck so she was sitting on her shoulders. With a twist of her knees, a sickening breaking sound filled the room and the woman fell to the floor leaving Catherine dangling for a moment before she too dropped down next to the woman, dusting her hands off.

Everyone was staring at her next to the body and she looked around quizzically. "What?" she demanded, "it had to be done! I hope she wasn't too important."

XMARVELX

To say that Loki had been taken aback that someone had the gall to attack him was an understatement. His fast reflexes meant that he was able to destroy the stars immediately but the woman had thrown herself in an attack manoeuvre extremely fast and so the force of her kicking out at him as she landed sent him to the floor. For a moment he was disorientated but that passed in seconds and he saw the woman standing over him with the daggers, ready to kill him. He was all set to use his magic to force her back when hell broke loose.

What came next was the most shocking. Catherine leapt up in an extremely powerful spinning kick, sending the blades flying and no sooner had she hit the floor again than she was tackling the woman, locking her arms around her. Loki took that moment to pick himself up. It was an impressive move by Catherine and he was about to speak when he saw the woman kick out at Catherine's legs, weakening the hold before throwing Catherine across the room.

Loki's eyes darkened with rage as he steadied himself on his feet. He saw Catherine roll over and avoid the boot that would have hit her face or throat, meet his eyes for a second before sending the woman crash down to the ground quickly. _That's my Queen_, he thought proudly to himself as he picked up the sceptre. This stupid woman was about to punished doubly for throwing Catherine about like that. The mind control had clearly ended inside this woman and she was her own person again. This was not good news especially since the talent she was showing for fighting could have been quite promising in another situation.

As Catherine got up, the woman pounced and tackled her to the floor. Hearing his beloved groan in pain released a snarl from Loki's throat. As the woman turned to face him, he raised the sceptre, only to see Catherine pick herself up and spring for the chandelier, performing what was a frankly impressive move. Her legs wrapped around the woman's neck and with her knees alone, she snapped the woman's neck.

Loki watched with a grin as the woman fell dead to the floor. He looked up at Catherine with a new pride as she landed next to the body and even more so when she seemed to shrug off the fact that she'd just took this woman's life.

"_What? It had to be done! I hope she wasn't too important!"_ Catherine had said and Loki laughed.

"Oh she was nothing," he said. "But you, my future Queen are quite something else entirely."


	18. Magic and monsters

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Seventeen_

"Pay attention," Loki whispered in Catherine's ear as she kept her hand steady. She was sat on his lap in the centre of their bed, with his legs crossed under her. She held her hand out as she struggled to control the dagger that she had floating in the centre of the room. "Concentrate," he whispered. "Imagine what you want it to become, you can do it, I know you can," he whispered pressing his lips lightly against her ear.

Catherine tried to keep focus and not think about how nice Loki's lips felt against her ear. She concentrated harder on the dagger, imagining it transforming into a beautiful sword. She closed her eyes and ignored the temptation to just chant for ease of the spell. No, she could do it without help from words or chants. She needed to improve; there was no use falling back on the easy methods. Slowly she felt the sparks of magic in her fingertips ignite as though someone had lit them up and set them on fire. She could feel the bond of magic between her fingers and the sword. She focused on the image, pouring every detail into the dagger… praying for it to change. She heard a soft thud on the carpet and her heart sank. She'd dropped the dagger hadn't she?

"Catherine," Loki murmured in her ear. "You did it," he whispered kissing her cheek. She shivered at his touch and opened her eyes. In front of her a beautiful silver sword with jewels of sapphires, rubies and emeralds embedded into the hilt. She let out a breath in shock. She smiled a little before letting out a little moan as Loki trailed gentle kisses down her neck.

"Loki…" she murmured tilting her head back and giving him easier access to her neck. She turned in his arms so she was kneeling in his lap and met his lips with hers as she cupped his face in her hands. Loki's arms encircled her as he fell back against the bed with Catherine on top of him. He pulled her close as they kissed intensely. He then rolled them over so he was on top of her, kissing her deeply, stroking down her sides.

She moved her hands through his hair as they kissed, releasing little noises into his mouth. As his hands trailed down her sides over her hips, he pulled away breathing heavily before rolling off her and getting off the bed hastily. She sat up in confusion.

"Loki?" she asked.

"I'm getting a shower," Loki said heading to the bathroom without looking round.

Catherine watched him in confusion. "What-?" she began.

"Don't play coy, Catherine," Loki muttered as if embarrassed and her cheeks flushed red as she realised what he meant. "We'll continue practicing your magic when I'm done."

Catherine watched him disappear into the bathroom and she brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. What the hell was wrong with her? She couldn't have her cake and eat it. It was true she wasn't feeling ready for sex but at the same time she longed for physical closeness; it was annoying to say the least. After a few minutes Catherine stood up and walked out of the room, running her hands through her hair. She was so screwed up and poor Loki was paying the price for it.

She went downstairs, ignoring people as she went, and made her way outside to the orchard. She knew she ought to have just stayed upstairs and continued practicing magic but she just felt so ashamed of herself that she doubted she could have been able to occupy herself with thoughts of magic. She just wanted to sit outside and try to clear her mind.

Maybe it was a bad idea sleeping in Loki's bed after all, much as she pained to admit it? Was it even dangerous just kissing him? Every time they kissed, she wanted more but she was constantly reminded of her fear of having sex with him and getting pregnant again. Sometimes it seemed like her fear was lessening but there was still the matter of needing to trust in his love again. She couldn't rush into it but she hated putting him through turmoil too. She was so embarrassed at what she'd driven him to that she just couldn't speak. She'd have to sleep in her own bed tonight. It was safer, far safer than messing Loki around again. She had to stop being so selfish and put him first. It wasn't fair of her to set the challenge and then unconsciously start trying to tempt him off the path. She hated the thought of being apart from him but maybe it was something that had to be done.

She settled herself under a tree in the shadowy parts of the garden, hoping that no one would find her. She curled her legs under her and leant her head against the tree quietly.

XMARVELX

The cold shower certainly helped Loki cool off but at the same time it felt uncomfortable despite his Frost Giant heritage. He dressed quickly after drying himself off before returning to his bedroom. However there was no one in there and the sword was still lying on the floor. Picking it up, Loki shrunk it and put it in his pocket carefully. He left the room and looked around the drawing room.

"Catherine?" he asked. "Catherine?" he called. There was no reply. Where had she gone? They had magic to practice. They'd spent all morning practicing. He thought of their little exchange and frowned. Surely he'd not said enough to upset her? He doubted it. He wondered if perhaps Erik had needed to talk to one of them. Hurrying downstairs he entered the laboratory quickly.

The team were experimenting on the Tessaract. Loki had put a shield around the base preventing any satellites or software on Midgard from detecting the activity for as long as the team needed to experiment. The Tessaract was building up a portal slowly but surely.

"Make sure you close it off your own accord before it collapses and takes this place with it," said Loki sharply as he looked around for Catherine. All of a sudden he felt a pulsing in his head. _Great, what did they want?_

He found himself back in the Chitauri home world subconsciously again. He looked around and spotted the henchman from before watching him.

"What is it?" he demanded in annoyance. "I am very busy."

"You seem to be taking your time," said the henchman. "Too much time."

"Perhaps the Chitauri should learn to embrace a little more patience," said Loki coldly. "Soon enough you will have the Tessaract in a couple of weeks."

"Weeks?" The henchman repeated incredulously. "We expected days, not weeks!"

"We are keeping a low profile so that our enemies are caught unawares," said Loki.

The Chitauri henchman sneered at him. "This sounds like cowardice," he muttered.

"I don't care what it sounds like," growled Loki. "If you want the Tessaract, you'll have to learn to be patient. When the plan is complete then you will have your Tessaract. Until then you don't really have much choice do you?" Loki snapped.

The henchman said nothing but Loki felt pain in his head as the connection was severed. He was stood back in the laboratory as though nothing had happened.

XMARVELX

Catherine was staring up at the sky when she heard footsteps approaching. They were heavy and rustling through the grass but when she looked around, she saw nothing. She looked all around the tree curiously before sitting back down and frowning. She looked up again and jumped when a figure materialised out of thin air in front of her.

The figure was grotesque looking with bird like eyes and a dark blue-grey face and was almost completely covered in a kind of bronze metallic armour, dirty and stained with dark red. Catherine felt nausea rise to her throat just looking at them. She began to get to her feet, to demand who this was but the hand that suddenly clasped around her throat prevented her from doing that.

Catherine choked, the hand squeezing tightly. "W-wh-who are you?" she managed to gasp before fighting for breath again.

The figure grinned. "I am Astar of the Chitauri," he said before bringing out a small metal rectangular object and holding it up. He then pressed the button and he and Catherine disappeared in a flash of blue light.


	19. Chasing Chitauri

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Eighteen_

Catherine's mouth was muffled before she could cry for help and before she knew it she was stood on a rocky desolate looking planet surrounded by stars. She looked up at it in confusion and wonder before her kidnapper – Astar – began to drag her by the arm towards some large steps that led upwards. Catherine looked round in alarm as she was forced up the steps. What was going on? Why were the Chitauri interested in her?

She struggled but found that despite being an Asgardian, the Chitauri were stronger and Astar's grip on her arm was growing steadily more painful the more she struggled. When they reached the top of the stairs, Astar threw Catherine to the ground. She landed painfully on her side and glared up at him, scooting as far away from him as she could.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded. "Loki is getting you what you want," she snarled. "Despite what you did to him," she added remembering Loki's torture. Astar smiled and immediately Catherine wished he hadn't because his smile was disturbingly grotesque.

"Loki needs a reminder of who is really the one in charge here," Astar spoke with a grin. "Struggle all you want, you're not going anywhere"

XMARVELX

Loki had looked all over the house and was annoyed to find no sign of Catherine, not even in the garden. She must be moving around at the same time as him. There was nowhere else she could be unless she'd left the base and that wasn't likely, he told himself. A horrible chill filled his stomach at the thought of her leaving the base. She wouldn't walk out on him, he knew that. She wouldn't leave without telling him. Things weren't that bad between them.

Turning to go back in the house, Loki was annoyed when the dizziness in his head returned and he found himself being pulled back into the trance state with the Chitauri.

Annoyed with them now, he had his subconscious take on his armoured form and faced them with an irritated expression on his face.

"Twice in one day? You must be desperate," he growled.

Astar, the henchman smirked at Loki. "Still so full of anger, confidence and arrogance in believing that you are above the Chitauri…"

"We are wasting time, I have told you that you will have your prize," said Loki exasperated.

"You are the one wasting time. I thought perhaps, having looked into your mind, that you would like an incentive to speed up the process," said Astar.

Loki frowned and gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," said Astar and stepped aside to reveal someone behind him. It was Catherine.

"I have your little…Asgardian friend. If you wish for her to be returned unharmed, you will proceed with the plan. Or better yet, since you have wasted our time, you will give us the Tessaract now in exchange for her freedom."

Loki stared in horror at Catherine as she stood secured by two Chitauri soldiers. She was looking at him sadly and Loki saw to his disgust that there were bruises around her neck and cheeks. Astar followed his gaze and laughed.

"Ah yes, about that, I'm afraid she was a bit uncooperative, you see, had to teach her some manners. I'm sure you understand with her being your concubine, I'm sure," Astar drawled.

"She is not my concubine!" hissed Loki. "She is the future Queen of Earth and if you touch her, you will never see that Tessaract again, I'll make sure of it!" he growled.

Astar glared. "If you withhold the Tessaract then not only will we torture your… "Queen" but we will unleash such pain on you that you will wish for death," he said in a sinister voice.

Loki looked at Catherine, his chest heavy as he turned back to the Chitauri. "If being tortured means you don't get what you want then by all means torture me. Let her go and the plan will proceed as normal." Loki said darkly. "Whilst I am feeling particularly forgiving."

Astar laughed. "You dare to pretend you hold all the cards now, Asgardian? You are in no place to demand."

"I have the Tessaract therefore I can demand what I like," Loki growled.

"Who is to say we cannot go get it ourselves?" sneered Astar.

"You would have by now," said Loki. "But you want me to do it. You're holding her hostage because you want me to give you the Tessaract. You know that I can close that portal even in this form and stop you getting to it." Loki smirked as he spoke. "So you do need me to get you the Tessaract."

Astar's lips, or what passed for them, pursed. "Give us the Tessaract or we kill her. We do not bluff." Astar raised his hand and one of the soldiers pressed a knife against Catherine's throat. "Make your choice, Asgardian."

XMARVELX

Catherine watched Loki, full of terror and dismay. She was so stupid; if she hadn't wandered off then the Chitauri might not have grabbed her and put her or Loki in this position. Now that she had, everything was going to go to hell. It was all her fault and she had to bite her lip to stop the tears. Crying would not help right now. She had to think about what was best for the situation. She looked into Loki's eyes and mouthed the words: I'm so sorry. But she couldn't tell if he'd understood.

She waited for Loki's answer half terrified that he'd just leave her here. Maybe that was what she deserved after everything she'd put him through. "Loki," she spoke. "Don't give it to them. I understand," she said. "Just don't give it to them."

Loki's eyes bored into hers for a second before he turned to Astar. "I'll bring it to you. She is not to be harmed," he told them.

Astar smirked and nodded. "Very well, Asgardian."

Loki stood up straighter and then disappeared.

XMARVELX

Loki immediately returned to his body and started running his hands through his hair. They had Catherine. How had they managed to come through and grab Catherine? He ran a hand over his face. He had to save her; there was no question of that. He looked around the room. He had to hand over the Tessaract but if he did that then he'd lose every chance of winning the Earth. He growled to himself and began to pace. _Think, Loki, think, dammit you're a strategist! _He told himself over and over as he walked around the back garden.

He couldn't go back empty handed but he didn't want to take the Tessaract plus that was what would hold the portal open. It was a trap and he and Catherine would be stuck there. He needed to think of a way to double cross Astar and his men.

XMARVELX

Catherine was left to sit on some rocks surrounded by guards whilst Astar waited for his prize. She folded her hands on her lap and tried not to cry. Loki was going to give up his plans, his kingdom to save her and it was all her fault. She had never imagined he would do that for her, that he loved her that much. But he did; he loved her and she was finally starting to believe it. He was putting her first ahead of something he'd dreamt about for years. It should make her happy but it was tinged with the guilt she felt at being the cause of his sacrifice.

Finally she felt a tear slide down her cheek. She didn't deserve his love, not one bit of it. She was self absorbed, selfish and unreasonable. How could he love someone who'd make him give up something so important to him? Surely he'd come to resent her if he didn't already. She brought her hands to her face and wiped the tear away. What could she do that would ever make up for any of this? There was nothing she could do. She'd destroyed their relationship; she just knew it.

XMARVELX

Loki held the solid metal cube in his hands and passed a hand over it. Instantly the same blue, glowing aura that encompassed the Tessaract covered this cube. A smirk covered his mouth and he held the cube tightly. He used his magic to make the cube radiate power. That should be enough to secure Catherine's freedom and buy him some time. He turned to the team operating the Tessaract.

"I am going to the Chitauri home world. When I return, I will have someone with me. As soon as we return, close the portal straight after us," he instructed the team before ascending the metal steps. Taking a breath, he stepped into the portal.

Stepping out onto the familiar rock of the Chitauri home world, Loki made sure to look as reluctant as possible to give up the Tessaract or they'd never buy it. He was the God of Mischief and Lies; now it was time to prove that.

"Bring Catherine here now!" he demanded as he approached Astar.

Astar chuckled and nodded to his guards who brought Catherine close. Astar held out his hand. "Give me the Tessaract, Asgardian."

"Give me the woman," retorted Loki.

For a few minutes the two stared at each other before Astar turned to the guards. "Take her to the Asgardian but do not release her until he hands over the Tessaract," he instructed them.

Loki watched as Catherine was marched forwards. He walked halfway to meet the guards. Slowly he held the Tessaract out and one of them reached out for it. As they touched it, Loki took Catherine's arm and pulled her to him. At Astar's nod, the guards released Catherine. Catherine instantly fell into Loki's arm and he pulled her to him, embracing her and stroking her hair closing his eyes in relief, finally letting go of the fake Tessaract. He watched the guard hand the Tessaract lookalike over to Astar. With less than a minute before he realised the truth, Loki knew they had to get out of there.

He turned with Catherine and picked her up, jumping through the portal to the sounds of rage filled screams.

XMARVELX

Catherine clung to Loki as they landed back in their base in France. She looked around in disbelief as Loki put her down. She turned to him shakily unable to believe he just did that. She felt a shudder from behind her and watched as the portal was closed down. She made to sit on the steps but Loki lifted her back into his arms and carried her out of the room before she could. He took her along the corridors and into the lounge.

It was a large luxurious room with a fireplace and beautiful furniture. Loki deposited Catherine gently down on one of the sofas before sitting next to her, watching her.

Catherine felt her eyes sting but she blinked the tears back. "Loki, I told you not to do that. Now you can't take Midgard as your kingdom," she began reaching to touch his hand. "You should not have given up your dream for me, I could never ask that of you."

Loki smiled and reached up to twirl a finger through her hair. "You never asked me and I would still do it." He then smirked a little. "But I haven't given up on the dream. The cube I gave them was not the Tessaract. Did you not notice the portal?"

Catherine reddened. "I assumed that was magic…" Her eyes widened. "So then if you gave them a fake cube… you can still…" she paused.

"_We _can still rule Midgard," smirked Loki.

Catherine looked down with a frown. "I'm surprised that you'd want me by your side at all after what I nearly cost you."

Loki chuckled. "Self-pity does not suit you, Catherine."

She looked up angrily at him. "I have no sympathy towards myself; that is the point. I should never have put you in that position."

"No," said Loki. "You shouldn't. You shouldn't have made me worry about you when I love you so much," he told her. "But even with the disappearing act, even if I hadn't come up with the fake cube," he said quietly. "I would have traded the real one for you, anyway."

Catherine blinked in shock. "You would? Seriously, you'd give up your dream for me?"

Loki laughed. "It is an important dream, yes, but it is not my only one. My greatest dream is to be with you," he said. "I could not let anything happen to you, not in a million lifetimes." He pulled her to him by the waist and she rested her hands on his shoulders. "I. Love. You," he said with a smile.

Catherine's eyes filled with happy tears as she realised for the first time just how much she fully, and with all her heart, believed him. She met his lips with her own and pulled him close.


	20. Tension, nightmares & naughty behaviour

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Nineteen_

**Fair Warning: This chapter is rated M**

Catherine was silent as she and Loki dined together that night. The initial relief period had passed and after tender kissing in the lounge, Catherine had fallen into a quiet mood, talking only when asked what she wanted for dinner and whether she wanted wine. As they ate together she nibbled at her food and sipped her wine with a quiet sadness that worried Loki across the table.

"Catherine, are you sure you're alright?" he asked her for what felt like the tenth time since he'd noticed her quiet sadness. She looked up at him, raised an eyebrow and nodded but he still didn't believe her, not one tiny bit.

He hoped that she wasn't punishing herself again. He'd decided to put it behind them. He knew Catherine wasn't the type to cry out for attention by letting herself get kidnapped. If she was, he wouldn't love her. Another darker thought crossed his mind; that the Chitauri had hurt her after all, that they had broken their word. He had broken his but he had good reasons for it. He resolved to check her over later for any hidden bruises. He doubted the Chitauri would have hurt her anywhere visible. He wondered sickeningly if they had tried anything with her or forced her to do anything. The thought made him sick and put him off his food for a moment.

"The Chitauri… they didn't hurt you did they?" he asked quietly.

Catherine looked up at him and shook her head once. "No," she whispered so quietly he'd had to strain to hear it. He watched her for a moment before resuming the meal.

XMARVELX

It was growing later by the hour and Loki led Catherine upstairs to their quarters, taking her through to the drawing room. He sat on one of the plush sofas facing a coffee table and she took the other. She noted the look of surprise on his face and felt even more guilty. But it was for the best that they didn't touch. Catherine didn't want comfort; she wanted punishment. She was ruining things on her own between them and she'd almost cost him his dream today. She didn't want to brush that under the carpet even if Loki did want to do that.

"Catherine," Loki said sighing. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong or not? I can't help if I don't know what the problem is… or do I know what the problem is and you're still dwelling on it?"

Catherine looked away and out of the window. "I don't see how you can expect to brush it all under the carpet; I was so foolish today," she said. "No, not just today. I've been screwing things up for us for the last few days."

Loki tried not to chuckle. "Well actually I think the problems have been because you _haven't _been screwing…" he trailed off seeing her glare at him. "Uncalled for, I get it."

Catherine leant back against the chair. "I just don't know why you keep letting me treat you the way I have been; I set ground rules, no sex and then I practically jump you every time I kiss. It's not healthy and I'm sorry. I don't know what's the matter with me."

Loki stood up and came to sit next to her, tentatively putting his arm around her and a hand over hers softly. "Catherine, there's nothing wrong with you."

Catherine nodded sadly. "Yes there is," she said and tapped her head. "In here and I don't know what to do about it."

"Talk to me, tell me what you need," said Loki.

"I can't always be relying on people, I need to heal on my own too…" said Catherine.

Loki leant back as if struck. "You want our relationship to be over?" he asked quietly.

Catherine's eyes widened. "No! Of course I don't want that!" she said in alarm. "I meant, I want to be able to heal myself as well… or maybe I'm just too damaged… because it feels like I'm broken and I don't know how to fix myself."

Loki gently stroked her hair with the arm behind her back. "Maybe you're not meant to this time; maybe I need to be the one to take care of you."

"You have been," Catherine said quietly. "I… I'm so sorry for bringing this to you… for all the chaos…"

Loki leant in and kissed her head gently. "Don't be sorry. Catherine, don't forget it's only been… what a year or so since you lost our son? I can't imagine anyone's the same after losing a child. You've had to go through a lot since then and before. You need to give yourself time to adjust." He moved closer and pulled her into his arms. "Once we take over this planet, things will be better. I promise you."

Catherine rested her head on his chest. "I'm so tired…" she whispered.

"Let's go to bed then," said Loki. "Everything will seem better in the morning."

Catherine sat up again. "I was thinking before; maybe I should sleep in my quarters for a while. What happened this morning…"

"… doesn't matter," said Loki. "It was just-" he began but Catherine shook her head.

"It was a natural reaction to how intimate we were getting. It wasn't fair on me and I don't think it's an idea to let something like that happen again. Believe me when I say I'd rather sleep beside you but I think it's best for now," she said quietly.

Loki was watching her clearly disappointed but he nodded. "If that's what you wish," he said pulling them both up to their feet. He took her hands and leant in to kiss her goodnight. "Goodnight, Catherine," he said and slowly walked away to his room. Catherine sighed and walked into her room, closing the door behind her. She changed into a nightgown and climbed into bed.

The bed felt cold and foreign to her. She shivered under the covers and spread a hand over the sheets, magically warming them. She slowly closed her eyes.

XMARVELX

The images that flooded her head were disturbing and vile; flashes of Chitauri warriors looming over her, blood red eyes replacing their usual colours. Their faces were maniacal; full of horrific grins and laughter.

She tried to turn her head away but when she did she was facing something even more horrible and the sight of it churned her stomach and tore at her heart. It was a baby's rotting corpse and she knew which baby it was. It was her Tyr, her beautiful Tyr, decaying and mutilated beyond belief. An animalistic cry tore from her throat when she saw him. She reached out for him but he vanished in an eruption of fire and smoke.

Staring up at the wall of flames, Catherine looked around again. A vast abyss lay behind her and she screamed as the ground vanished beneath her feet. She reached up for anything to grab and managed to latch onto a boot. She looked up to see who it was and saw Loki, all arrayed in his armour and smiling down at her. Only she didn't like his smile; it was cold and cruel unlike his usual one. He was smirking down at her as though she amused him.

"Help me…" she begged but instead he just kicked out and in panic she let go and fell into the abyss.

She awoke with a loud scream, bolting up in bed. She started trying to catch her breath, panting heavily when less than a minute later, her doors burst open and Loki stood there also breathing heavily. He made his way over to her side of the bed and perched on it, his hand caressing her face.

"Nightmare?" he asked. He wore black sleeping pants and thin silk tank top like shirt.

Catherine nodded and wiped sweat from her head. "It's been a while," she said.

Loki continued to stroke her hair softly. "You were screaming a minute or two, took me a little while to wake up and get to you. Must have been one hell of a nightmare; did you dream of Thor in the bath again?"

Catherine ran a hand through her hair. "No… much worse."

"In the nude?"

"Loki!"

"Sorry," Loki said with a tiny smile.

Catherine sat up. "There's no way I'm going back to sleep. I need a drink." She climbed out of bed and slipped a silk robe on.

Loki stood up. "Well I may as well join you now I'm up."

She paused in the doorway. "I would apologise for that but I'd rather like the company," she smiled a little. Loki wrapped an arm around her and they headed off to the kitchens.

XMARVELX

Loki had to admit he was impressed with the amount of alcohol the humans had brought into the base over the last few days. They had; wine, beers, spirits and alcopops amongst others. Bringing out the bottle of whiskey, he decided to pour himself a glass of that since it was something he liked.

Catherine was opening a bottle of wine. She brought out a large wine glass and began filling it to the top. Once she had, she left the bottle on the side and sipped from the glass. She closed her eyes in bliss. "Oh I miss drinking when it's not accompanied by a meal."

Loki put the bottle aside and picked up his glass. "I don't remember you being much of a drinker."

"Oh I was after you disappeared and after Tyr died. I sometimes ended up drinking myself to the point where I couldn't even think. I just couldn't cope without the numbness that alcohol offered," Catherine said reminiscently. "It was an easy way to spend the evenings, make them bearable," she finished with a shrug.

"Odin and Frigga just let you do that to yourself?" Loki asked curiously as he sipped his whiskey. "That doesn't sound like Mo-Frigga," he corrected himself.

"She is your mother, Loki," Catherine reminded him before nodding. "They didn't know too much about it. They'd tried to help in the beginning but eventually they left me to it, thought I'd heal alone. But losing one person never mind two isn't something that you can just heal from." She took another swig of wine. "Anyway long story short I wasn't always drinking but when I was, I hit the cider pretty hard."

Loki couldn't help chuckling. "That doesn't surprise me. You've never been able to hold your cider."

"That is not true," Catherine said smiling slightly. "I have been quite capable several times actually!" she declared proudly. "I was okay when we went to Alfheim…"

"You and I remember that visit very differently," said Loki with a playful smile before drinking some of his whiskey. He pulled a face and drank some more.

"Meaning what?" Catherine asked after another swig of her wine.

"Meaning you were tipsy and asking our hosts a few rather personal questions," said Loki. "You were also dancing completely out of sync with the music and you tried to drink out of their sacred fountain…" he pointed out. "I dare you to name a time when you were able to hold your cider because I am willing to bet you won't be able to name one."

"Vanaheim, five years ago," said Catherine. "I held my liquor fine that time. I didn't make a show of myself," she said assertively.

"Only because Thor and I wouldn't let you out of our sights once you'd had your fourth goblet. You didn't get a chance to do anything silly. You were still walking admittedly but you were slurring and far too easily distracted," said Loki.

Catherine pouted and sat on one of the stools at the bar. "Well you're not perfect."

"I have never been completely drunk," said Loki.

Catherine laughed out loud. "Don't tell lies," she said.

"I said I've never been _completely _drunk," Loki pointed out. "I will admit to certain escapades," he said quietly sipping his drink.

"Escapades; that's what you're going to call them…" said Catherine. "It's certainly true for the time you and Thor streaked through a village in Norway, Midgard in the… 13th century, was it?"

"12th actually," Loki corrected. "Technically only I streaked through the village. Thor passed out in a barrel halfway."

Catherine giggled at the image and sipped some more of her wine. "I'm impressed you streaked."

"Why, that's hardly impressive, I am the God of Mischief," Loki smirked over his glass. "I've done far more impressive things in my time, believe me."

"Oh I do," said Catherine. "I'm one of them."

Loki choked on his whiskey and brought his hand to his mouth laughing. "You saucy minx," he said. After a moment he finished his drink and grinned, going over to the counter and pouring himself another. "So… anyway, enough about our drunken antics…" Loki began.

"… we're going to move onto our sober antics?" Catherine asked wriggling her eyebrows as she finished off her first glass.

"Shush you, no need to be crude," Loki chuckled. He was surprised at how much more relaxed Catherine was with a drink in her hand that wasn't accompanied with dinner and formalities. He watched as Catherine moved to her wine bottle and poured the rest in the glass. She looked up to see Loki watching her with raised eyebrows. Loki grinned at her. "You're not seriously thinking of defending your tolerance of alcohol, or rather lack of, now are you?" he said light-heartedly.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'm not perfect when it comes to alcohol."

"You're nowhere near perfect when it comes to alcohol," Loki pointed out as he came to sit at the bar with his drink.

"Thanks very much," she said, coming over to join him.

"I only speak the truth," Loki joked.

"Says the God of Lies," laughed Catherine.

They sat there together laughing a little and drinking for about an hour or so, reminiscing about the past and fun times gone by. Catherine had finished another bottle of wine by the time an hour had gone by and Loki was not far off the end of his whiskey bottle.

"Mortals are right about this stuff; definitely gets better the more you have it," Loki said concentrating in a low voice. His mind felt fuzzy and disorientated but his sight and hearing were alright at the moment. "It's a very grown up drink, real men drink this." Loki asserted.

Catherine looked up from her wine glass, eyes half closed with an alcoholic stupor that was slowly falling over her. "That's why you drink wine at meals is it?" she said with a grin.

"Be quiet you," Loki said slowly and good naturedly. "That's enough out of your feisty mouth."

"I wouldn't complain," grinned Catherine. "Considering there's a few things I could do with my feisty mouth," she said flirtatiously. She finished her next glass, necking the half full glass in a few swallows. She got off the bar stool and made her way over to Loki smiling. She waved her hand and his chair turned round to face her. His face lit up in a grin when he watched her use magic.

She placed her hands on his chest and leant in to kiss him passionately. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his body. She swept her tongue over his lips asking for entrance which he obliged. She deepened the kiss, gasping and moaning against his lips making him groan. Her other hand trailed down to his sleeping pants slowly and slipped inside them. She felt him jump as her hand touched his member. She wrapped her fingers around it and groaned into his mouth.

"I almost forgot how big you are," she whispered against his lips making him moan. She began to stroke him up and down slowly making him moan louder and louder. She kissed him intensely as she did so. She ran her thumb along the head and he broke from the kiss to groan in pleasure. She grinned up at him and kissed his lips softly again. She moved her hand beneath his member and stroked his balls ever so gently. Loki's hips rose off the seat at her touch. She touched them again and he cried out in pleasure.

"Catherine!" he said his voice low and guttural. She smiled at him whilst stroking them again and again. "Catherine, stop…" he murmured. "Oh Catherine, stop…" he said gasping. She obliged and moved her hand away from them and slipped her fingers around his member again. She began to stroke him hard and powerfully. His hands pulled her closer by the hips. "Catherine…"

She looked up at him with a devilish look in her eyes. She moved her hand away and pulled down his sleeping pants before pulling his member out. Loki hissed at the sudden exposure. Catherine grinned up at him as she knelt on one of the footrests of the kitchen counter chair and placed her hands on his hips. She then leant forward and took Loki's member into her mouth hotly.

Loki cried out in ecstasy when she did that. His hand came to cup the back of her head gently stroking her hair. "Catherine, oh Catherine, don't stop…" he murmured. Catherine smiled against him remembering his earlier plea. She began to move her mouth on him, bringing her hand underneath the member again to tease him. Loki cried out even more as she moved her lips around him and stroked him. His hips began to thrust upwards in a rhythm as she increased her pace. She used her tongue against his member and Loki nearly went insane as his hips bucked.

Catherine reached around him with her other hand and slipped it into the back of his trousers, squeezing one of his buttocks gently. Loki cried out in pleasure again, moaning loudly and sexily as Catherine pleasured him. His hands were both on her head holding her down there. She intensified the pleasure she was giving him and he almost wept with desire. "Catherine, more… please, I'm close," he murmured. Catherine obliged and picked up the pace of her mouth on him.

Loki panted as he felt his climax building. Catherine was hitting so many pleasure points inside him that he was almost driven mad with the ecstasy. He gently pushed Catherine's ahead against him.

Catherine looked up at him as she was doing it and Loki found himself turned on even more by her erotic behaviour. It had been so long since they had been together sexually, since he'd had a release and he could feel it bubbling away rising fast. He needed this and by the gods he wanted her now.

Catherine pulled her mouth away and ran her tongue over him playfully. Loki closed his eyes in torture of her hot mouth. She grinned up at him and gently stroked her hand over him, her thumb caressing the head. She replaced it with her mouth, gently sucking him, knowing her was close. She took him fully in her mouth again and continued massaging his rear and balls ever so gently.

Loki's lips were bucking wildly at her ministrations and he groaned loudly. "Catherine, I'm going to come," he cried out in a raspy breath. He hit his climax hard and fast, his fluid spilling into Catherine's mouth hot and quickly. She groaned as she took it and swallowed, keeping hold of him for her own sake rather than pleasuring him now. When he'd finished his climax, she pulled away and stood up, smiling down at his limp member before taking Loki's exhausted face in her hands.

"You taste absolutely delicious," she whispered sexily in his ear. That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Loki sat up, one hand pulling his pants up and he reached up to Catherine and pushed her robe over her shoulders where it pooled to the floor at her feet. He turned her round and lifted her off her feet and onto his lap. Using his magic he turned the chair to face the table again. He reached across, finished his whiskey and threw the glass across the room. He then turned Catherine so her back was to him and her legs were draped over the counter. He brought her nightgown up to her thighs and reached a hand up between her legs.

Catherine shivered when she felt him touching her underwear. She felt him make it disappear and looked over her shoulder at his face. He gave her a lustful look before he began to stroke her centre. She rolled her head back with a gasp as he began to stroke her over and over. She felt her own hips respond to his touch as he gently played with her. She let out little gasps and moans, leaning her head against Loki breathlessly. He was smirking and increased his touches making her cry out. "Loki… oh… Loki… yes," she said in the midst of her passion. "There… please…" she murmured as he touched her again and again. She cried out in dismay when he stroked her thighs with both hands. She tilted her head back in pleasure as he then moved both hands back to touching her and she jolted her head up in shock at his actions.

Loki couldn't help being amused at how much shock and pleasure combined she was getting out of this. His fingers traced patterns on her that took her by surprise and made her gasp and squeal with delight. She moaned, raising her hips to his hands and he increased the pace of his touches. He took it a step further when he slipped one of his forefingers inside of her, making her cry out. He thrust it in and out of her, making her shake with ecstasy. She looked beautiful in his lap, eyes closed and gasping out loud. He kissed her head affectionately as she lay transfixed against his shoulders.

Catherine groaned when Loki's other forefinger entered her too and together the two fingers brought new waves of pleasure to her as they stroked her as though she were a delicate violin. If she was a violin, they were certainly playing the right strings to create the music of moans and gasps that she was making. She looked up at Loki, her eyes full of lust and pleasure. He leant down and kissed her as his fingers picked up the pace inside of her. She groaned against his mouth and he returned it when he realised he could taste himself in her mouth.

He slid both his second fingers into her and she let out a cry in his mouth as she shivered in his arms. She bucked her hips in his hands groaning in his mouth. When they pulled away to breathe, she began to gasp. "Oh Loki, I'm going to come… please, Loki…" She was very disappointed when he suddenly removed his fingers and moved her so she was sat on the counter, legs dangling down.

He grinned placing his fingers in his mouth before spreading Catherine's legs either side of him. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her centre and began to trail kisses along it. Catherine tilted her head back in rapture. He grinned up at her before sliding his tongue in slowly. She gasped and held his head panting heavily. He picked up the pace and reached under her rear to stroke her buttocks. She cried out again and again, her hands fisting in his hair. It wasn't long before she began to shake.

"Loki, I'm coming…" she murmured as Loki's pace quickened. In less than a minute she reached her climax and hit it hard. Loki kept his mouth there, lapping up her climax and stroking her thighs gently as Catherine sat there recovering from it; her eyes closed in delight. Loki then raised his head and she opened her eyes before leaning down to kiss him. She moaned as she tasted herself. He wrapped his arms around her smiling. She snuggled against him, catching her breath. "That was amazing," she murmured. They sat there for a small while just recuperating from the alcohol induced activities they had just engaged in.

Eventually Catherine edged forward and Loki helped her down. She pulled him in for a long kiss before gazing into his eyes with a playful smile. "I think we need another drink," she whispered.

As they both poured themselves another glass of their chosen drink, Loki moved to sit down on the bar stool and Catherine climbed up onto his lap with a smile. He wrapped an arm around her and she slung an arm around his shoulders as they both drank. She trailed kisses down his face and neck, enjoying the soft moans she provoked.

"Catherine…" Loki whispered. "Your lips are like heavenly fire," he murmured.

Catherine smiled. "Yours are like the angel's touch especially when you're making me come with them," she whispered saucily. Loki groaned at the image of her climaxing before. Catherine grinned when she saw his reaction. She sipped more of her wine and reached up to push some of her sweat soaked hair back from her forehead.

"You're one to talk with your magic hands," Loki grinned back.

"Ah you're the master of magic, not me," she shot back.

"You know what I mean," said Loki playfully.

"Oh I do. I'm damn sure I'll be treating myself to more of you some other time," Catherine wriggled her eyebrows. She downed the rest of her glass and tossed the glass aside where it joined the other smashed glass on the floor. "We're making quite a mess."

"Who cares?" Loki grinned finishing his drink and tossing the glass aside.

Catherine hopped down from the counter and pulled Loki to his feet. "Take me," she whispered wrapping her arms around him. "I want you to really take me, Loki. Take me properly, please…" she murmured with a soft sigh. "I need to feel you inside me, Loki, now…"

Loki enveloped her in his arms, kissing her passionately. He pressed her against the wall and began to push her nightgown up past her thighs. She raised her arms so he could pull it off and he stepped back admiring her naked body before pressing himself against it again, lost in her kisses. She reached up to pull his shirt off which he raised his arms for. He felt her push his pants and underwear down so they were both naked. He stepped out of them and looked at her. Not to be a total pervert but her body really was beautiful. He loved her curve, every line and every shade of skin. He pulled her into his arms and she kissed him deeply before pulling back.

"Not here," she whispered and led him to the door leading out into the garden. "Let's go outside."

"O-outside?" Loki asked slightly doubtfully as his speech began to slur a little. "W-why outside?"

Catherine stepped through the door backwards and smiled drunkenly. "I want you to take me in the orchard, surrounded by nothing but trees and the sky…" she grinned up at him. "It's like that Midgard tale… Adam and Eve. Well Eve needs her Adam to take her now or she'll be very lonely and horny…" she giggled drunkenly.

Loki grinned at that and followed her out. He took her hand and let her lead him out to the orchard. No one was about and all was quiet. He and Catherine made their way to the orchard where they stopped in the clearing in the middle.

Catherine turned and giggled at him as he approached. "Oh Loki," she murmured and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him passionately. His hands stroked down to her rear and hers moved down his stomach and along his hips. She looked up at him alluringly and he kissed her again smoothly. She rubbed her body against him playfully.

Turned on even more by the naked sight of her, Loki picked her up by her thighs and moved her against one of the trees. She instantly locked her legs around his waist and gazed up at him. She ran her fingers through his hair and stared into his eyes. "Take me," she whispered. He didn't need telling twice and he grinned.

He thrust into her hard, taking her by surprise and making her gasp out loud. She tilted her head back in pleasure giving Loki the chance to start raining heavy kisses on her neck. She groaned as he began to move inside her. She moved her head so she was leaning on Loki's shoulder, forehead against his neck. Loki moved at a steady pace moaning along with her. He had to admit. as the drunken haze took over, this was actually pretty fun. The adrenaline was pounding through him and he found himself being turned on even more by the idea of being caught.

Not that any such unlucky people would live to see another day or at least remember depending on how useful they were. Loki might be enjoying it but he was still a leader with a sense of pride. Not to mention he didn't want any gossip spreading about him and Catherine.

Catherine was panting and crying against his skin in pleasure. He moved inside her deeper than before and she let out a scream of rapture. She sat up against the tree and groaned, feeling the bark rub against her back. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. "Harder, Loki, faster," she murmured. Loki obliged quickly and pounded into her roughly. She gasped and squealed with delight as he rocked her against the tree.

He soon decided that the tree couldn't be the most comfortable place to be rammed into so he moved them away from the tree before getting to his knees and laying her down in the grass. He wrapped her legs around him again and gently ran his hands over her breasts, touching her nipples and stroking the flesh tenderly. Catherine whined at the touch before he propped himself up on his elbows and began to move inside her again. He let his hands wander to her chest again as her arms spread out reaching out to hold the grass as Loki thrust inside her. His hands gently caressed her breasts again and being bold, he leant forward and took one of her breasts into his mouth, teeth grazing the nipple gently as he sucked.

Catherine's eyes were wide with pleasure and she reached up to tug at his hair as she mewled in ecstasy. "Oh Loki, that's it," she cried out, "oh that's amazing, please, Loki, please… harder," she begged him, making him quicken his pace even more. His breath was coming out in pants to match hers as he moved his mouth from her breast. He leant in and kissed Catherine deeply and lovingly.

Catherine let out loud cries as her climax approached. She gripped Loki's back as he wrapped his arms underneath her. He moved faster and harder above her and his breath warmed her neck. She moaned to the heavens as she felt it building up inside her. Loki growled as he felt his own climax building. He began to stroke her hair and gaze down at her lustily. He stroked her face once before kissing her chastely.

"I love you Catherine," he gasped through the pleasure.

"I love you too, oh!" Catherine screamed as she hit her climax, her body racked with tremors.

Loki followed straight after, emptying himself into her. He groaned loudly against her neck and she reached up to stroke his hair as he thrust a few more times then sank down onto her. They kissed each other's sweat soaked shoulders and necks lazily for a while, stroking the other's hair and whispering nonsense to each other. Loki fought to keep his breath and pulled out of her, leaning over her and smiling warmly.

Lazily he leant down and took one of her nipples in his mouth again, swirling it with his tongue and making Catherine shudder. He did the same thing to her other one before reaching up to kiss her. He then rolled them over so they were on their sides and enveloped her into his arms as they both lay there looking up into the night sky.

**Author's Note: **O_O well that drunk scene wasn't as dark/angsty as I imagined when I decided to fulfil you guys' desire for an emo/comedic drunk scene. Oh well there's always future fights

But in this scene, I really think Loki and Catherine needed some fun. Now they've started to build a physical relationship, it should begin to heal their emotional one.

However there's still plenty more drama left to come and then the Avengers are going to come in and try and rain over Loki's parade. *shakes fist at Avengers*


	21. Intimacy and new resolutions

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty_

Catherine awoke to find herself lying in Loki's strong arms in what she quickly realised was his bed. She felt the warm air against her bare skin and realised they were both naked. Her senses returned to her as she felt his body against her side. She looked up at him and saw that he was still asleep, head on the pillow, face very close to hers.

She closed her eyes and gently placed her lips against his lovingly. As she grazed his lips, she felt his move against hers. She opened her eyes and saw him looking at her softly. She cupped his cheek and leant in to kiss him again. He kissed her back a little more as his hand reached up to hold the back of her head, holding her there as they kissed. She moaned gently against his mouth with a smile as he pulled her head even closer. She pulled back after a moment and smiled at him before returning her head to the pillow. He was watching her with a growing grin on his face.

"Morning," he murmured stroking down her neck and over the soft flesh of her breast. She hummed in approval as his thumb grazed her nipple before sighing as he gently ran his hand over her stomach. He was watching her curiously and she continued to stroke his cheek tenderly before pulling her hand away. She felt his hand move to her hip and remain there. She trailed her hand down his arm and rested it on his hand on her hip.

"Morning," she replied. Memories of the night before were engraved on her brain and she blushed a little bit as she remembered what they'd done. "That was quite a night last night," she whispered.

Loki grinned at her. "It certainly was; I'd missed being with you that way, you were amazing."

Catherine nodded. "So did I and you were pretty amazing yourself," she said.

Loki smiled warmly at her. "I can't help but think it felt right. I know you said you wanted to wait until-" he began but Catherine placed a finger on his lips.

"-until you proved yourself, which you did. Admittedly I was also scared of the possibility of getting pregnant but… honestly, Loki, I'm just as pleased last night happened as you did." Catherine explained with as much honesty and tenderness as she could.

Loki looked a little relieved. "Good because I'd hate to have made you angry by disregarding your wishes," he said with a slight smirk as though her being angry amused him.

"If I recall," said Catherine. "I started it and I wanted you to take me," she said with a grin. "The only thing you masterminded was the counter adventure," she said grinning. "Oh and I hope you let the staff know they might want to clean the place," she added playfully.

Loki laughed. "I left instructions on the housekeeper's door."

"All in all, it was a fun night," smiled Catherine. "It felt like old times… well old times before we started having sex," she said in amusement.

"Oh but the sex is definitely a bonus," said Loki pulling her closer and kissing her. She grinned against his lips and kissed him back.

"Oh, undoubtedly," Catherine agreed murmuring against his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled as he rolled on top of her. His hands gently stroked her hair back and she smiled up at him. "It's a complete pleasure," she said giggling some more as he trailed kisses down her neck and over her collarbone. She let out gasps of delight as he trailed his kisses down to her breasts. "Loki…" she said caught up in pleasure. She gasped when he took her nipple into his mouth and started playing with it. Her breathing became more ragged the more he teased. "Loki!" she called out to him. She groaned when he did the same thing to her other nipple and she arched her back,

When he finally returned his mouth to hers, she met his lips lovingly before they both pulled apart. She looked up at him, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. He gently rubbed her hips and chuckled down at her. "We should probably get cleaned up after last night," he said with a grin. He rolled off her and climbed out of bed. He stood there naked in front of her smirking and offering a hand. "Coming for a shower my lady? Or do you want to announce to the whole household what I did to you last night?" he teased.

Catherine grinned back at him and climbed out of bed. "A shower sounds wonderful," she said and followed him into the bathroom. After he'd adjusted the shower, he stepped in and pulled her in after him. The shower temperature was perfect and they both sighed in contentment as the hot water rushed all over their bodies.

Loki gently turned Catherine around and began to lather some body gel onto his hands. He began to slowly rub her back and shoulders making her lean her head back in rapture. That felt absolutely amazing. She heard him lathering some more soap and she shivered as he rubbed down her arms, his own arms around her as he reached her wrists. The smell of the body gel was beautiful; like an assortment of different fruits, it was incredible.

Loki gently rubbed more gel between his hands before reaching around Catherine and lathering the soap over her chest, moving around her breasts, tenderly massaging them. She lay her head against his shoulder slightly breathlessly especially when his thumbs rubbed the suds into her nipples. He moved his hands lower to her stomach and hips. Her breath hitched when one of his hands wandered further downwards to gently apply the soap to her womanhood. More soap was applied and Catherine moaned with a grin at the feel of his hands moving down her rear, thighs and legs. She felt him kneel down behind her so he could reach her shins.

Once he was done he stood up and handed the bottle to her. She took it and lathered a lot of soap onto her hands before putting the bottle aside. She gestured for him to turn around and began to rub the soap into his back as softly and deeply as she could. She then rubbed some into his shoulders and neck before putting some more on her hands and reaching down to gently rub the soap over his own rear, grinning cheekily up at him as he looked down over his shoulder at her. "You look like you're enjoying that too much," he smirked.

"Well I have a nice view," Catherine said flirtily. She rubbed soap into the backs of his legs and reached around to rub it into his thighs and the front of his legs. She stood up and applied more soap, getting him to turn around. She reached up and lathered soap on his chest with a sexy smile up at him. He reached down and kissed her roughly. She met his kiss, her tongue asking for entrance which he easily granted. She explored his mouth as she ran her soapy hands over his chest and to his stomach. She pulled back and lathered her hands with soap again as she moved her hands down.

She lathered his hips with it again and moved her hands closer to his member. She gently grasped it in her soapy hand and used her other to spread the soap elsewhere in that region. She glanced up at him with a smirk as he tilted his head back in pleasure. She then placed some more soap on her hands and began to spread it over his arms before finally rinsing her hands off. She stood closer to him, letting the shower soak her hair.

Loki reached up and began to run his fingers through her hair repeatedly. Catherine almost purred liking that movement. It was only when a new smell hit her nostrils that she realised he'd been using his magic to cleanse her hair. She touched her head in confusion. "How-?" she looked down and saw that he held a bottle of his own hair product.

"I changed the smell for you and changed it into a woman's shampoo," Loki murmured. "And yes I remembered to make it violets," he grinned, making her laugh. She took the bottle of him and poured some into her hands. Putting the bottle aside, she began to spread his shampoo into his hair, gently and sensually. Loki's closed his eyes in bliss as she did this.

Once she was done they both stood there letting the water rinse off their soapy bodies and hair. Catherine leant up, wrapping her arms around Loki and they kissed deeply as the water poured all over them. Loki's arms encircled Catherine's hips, pulling her closer.

They were soon both clean and Loki turned the shower off. He stepped out of the shower and Catherine followed him. He grabbed a towel off the rail and wrapped it around the both of them. Waving his hand at the towel to use magic to keep it up, he put his arms around her again and led her back into his room. Stopping in the centre, he began to kiss her again slowly and intimately. She had her arms around his neck and she tilted her head to deepen the kiss.

They had to pull away for air sometime and when they did, Catherine tugged at the towel so it fell away from Loki and then wrapped it around herself. "I better go and get dressed," she said smiling.

Loki laughed at her coyness. "I shall see you in the dining room then?" he said before turning to get changed. Catherine laughed and headed to her own quarters to dress.

Once there Catherine stared at the outfits in her wardrobe wondering what to wear again. She picked out a soft black dress and was reminded of her gold dress from Loki back in Asgard. She immediately wished she had it with her. She wanted to dress like an Asgardian again and she was so comfortable with that dress but unfortunately she would probably never see it again. She looked at the black dress and in a quick burst of magic, transformed it into a replica of the gold dress. Technically Loki had had these clothes bought for her so it was a gift of sorts. She used her magic to dry her hair and give it some body. She then prepared to go downstairs.

As she was emerging from her room, she saw Loki appear from his. He stopped short at the sight of her, making her blush a little before he regained control of his legs and walked over to her. "That dress…" he murmured.

"It's a replica," said Catherine. "It's the closest I'll get to the real thing but the dress I transformed was a gift from you so I figured…" she stopped seeing him smile. She was rambling. She looked down embarrassed before she felt him tilt her chin up. He offered her his arm and she took it. They made their way downstairs where Barton was waiting for them.

"Agent Barton?" drawled Loki. "Have you any news for us?"

"I've created a fake seminar for the prodigies to attend; twenty are confirmed to be attending but we are waiting on a few." Barton informed Loki who nodded slowly.

"Twenty will be enough; anyone who doesn't come will be missing out and subjugated to the rest of the population's level," Loki shrugged. "Are any of them architecturally inclined?" he added looking at Barton. "Or in engineering, weapon building?"

Barton nodded. "Out of the ones attending we have; seven scientists, three architects, four engineers, four weapons developers and two politicians."

"Politicians?" Catherine asked in confusion. "What do we need them for?"

"Until we conquer the planet we could use people in high places," Loki pointed out. "After that we might still find a use for them; messengers, heralds, that sort of thing." He turned to Barton. "When have you set the seminar and where will it be held?"

"Next Thursday in Paris," Barton explained.

Catherine frowned. "But Loki might get recognised…"

"I'll use a disguise," said Loki.

"We'll need a picture of your disguise so the people know what you look like," said Barton. "After that we're all set."

Loki nodded. "Very well," he turned to Catherine. "Go to the dining room, I'll join you there in a few moments," he told her. She nodded and set off down the corridor.

XMARVELX

Loki followed Barton to the laboratory and posed against a white background with his disguise, a 5"8, brown haired mousy looking man with glasses and a rather extravagant looking purple suit complete with gold shirt and black tie. It was a ridiculous disguise but whatever didn't scream Loki to his enemies was good enough for him to use. Once he'd had the photo taken he went to leave the room when a pulsing noise began in his head, replaced by dizziness and a familiar one at that.

He found his subconscious form facing the Chitauri henchman again. Loki kept his face impassive knowing that the Chitauri were about to give him seven barrels of hell for what he had done to them. He tightened his grip on the sceptre his subconscious form held.

"You tricked the Chitauri," Astar growled at him. "You expect to get away with that?"

"I was protecting my Queen. My plan is in motion and if you want the Tessaract returned to you then I suggest you agree to my terms. You have no way of reaching the sceptre or me or you would have come for the Tessaract yourself." Loki smirked as he spoke. "So you should count yourself lucky that I am willing to agree to our original terms albeit with a new condition," he said smirking sinisterly now at the Chitauri. "You have proved to be impatient and reckless and you threatened the safety of a close ally of mine; therefore you will have the Tessaract when I have no more need of it provided that your forces take Earth for me. But you will now have to wait the few weeks I told you of, to receive your prize. If you do not agree to these terms then you will soon find the Tessaract will be lost to you forever," Loki threatened darkly.

At first Astar did not say anything. Loki looked around at the gathered Chitauri and then back to Astar. Which would he choose: giving up on the Tessaract and save being at the mercy of an outside or swallow his pride for the Tessaract? A few more minutes passed and eventually Astar growled.

"Very well, however if you do not relinquish the Tessaract, we will make sure to kill your precious Queen and make you watch. You think you know pain? You will know it when we make this happen."

Loki tensed, trying not to react to the threat against Catherine. He stayed still and nodded. "Have your army ready when the portal opens and when Earth is mine you shall have your prize."

Astar nodded once and Loki felt a sharp pain as he was pulled back to reality. He took a calming breath and headed for the dining room. He smirked to himself as he pondered just how stupid the Chitauri really were; as if he would ever give up the Tessaract.


	22. Tempers and testing times

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty-One_

Two weeks passed by before they knew it. Catherine was still pinching herself that after two years of grieving for Loki, she had him back and they were rebuilding their relationship. Now that she had no more doubts about him and their physical relationship had been resumed, things were so much better between them.

She'd been sitting in on his meetings with the team though she rarely said anything since most of it was just going over the plan, making adjustments where needed and updates on the situation. Loki and Barton had gone to the Paris seminar and managed to successfully lure the twenty geniuses to the meeting place where Loki had used the sceptre to put them under his control. After that they'd returned to the base and the geniuses had been put to work immediately.

Catherine had been talking with Erik Selveig and learning more about the Tessaract, how it seemed to operate and its properties. It wasn't as boring as she would have thought and it kept her occupied during the days when Loki was busy with the team. But when he hadn't been busy, he'd been helping her practice her magic and she was improving steadily. She was now tackling some of the bigger spells and Loki was thoroughly encouraging her to do it without chanting. It was so difficult but her perseverance was finally paying off.

As Loki started spending more time with the team monitoring the Tessaract, Catherine found herself seeking Barton out and requesting his assistance in her physical training. She need a sparring partner to practice on and keep herself fit. As it turned out, for a human, Barton was pretty good. In fact he was extremely quick and agile. Catherine had a hard time pinning him down to attack him. They spent a couple of hours a day training and Catherine started to feel the burn in her muscles again after having gone a week or so without practicing.

They were finishing one particularly gruelling session when Loki walked into the gymnasium, a triumphant smile on his face. Catherine and Barton turned around curiously. Barton gave a respectful short bow to Loki whilst Catherine just raised her eyebrows at his expression.

"You seem to have exhausted my future Queen," Loki smirked playfully.

"She is much improving in her fighting techniques, my lord," Barton said with a slight smile. "I've had to up the ante of our matches to challenge her. Soon, she will have no need for me."

Loki looked to Catherine. "I'm glad to see you're improving though I doubt your training will be needed much once our plans get underway."

"If the lady wasn't so valuable, she would be a useful asset to our team," said Barton.

Loki chuckled at Catherine. "You're that good apparently."

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the tone of surprise. Now are you going to tell us what you're grinning about or not?" she asked.

Loki advanced forward. "The raid for the iridium begins tomorrow night. Once we have that and the other team gather the rest of the materials, we can make our way back across the Atlantic to New York." He turned to Barton. "You are sure that the Avengers Initiative will have been implemented? Stark will be away from his precious tower of warm energy for all mankind?" he sneered.

Barton nodded. "Intel has not seen him for several weeks and his girlfriend has not been sighted near the place in an equally long time. We can set up there as soon as we're ready," he told Loki.

Loki grinned. "Well we better get a move on then. In a matter of days, Earth will be ours for the taking and S.H.I.E.L.D will be blasted off the face of our new kingdom," he said walking up to Catherine and stroking her cheek gently. "Agent Barton," he said without looking away from Catherine's face. "If you could have the strike team prepared by tonight then have them undergo a physical examination."

Barton nodded obediently. "Of course my lord," he left the room when Loki waved him away.

"So, you seem to be getting cosy with Agent Barton," he said teasingly. "Something I should be worried about?" he said, obvious jest in his grin.

Catherine smirked and hit him on the arm. "Shut up, Loki. You are more than enough for this lady," she said. "But I'm grateful for the sparring partner to be honest. I want to be in top shape to help in this plan of yours. Speaking of which, what am I doing?" she asked, arms folded.

Loki froze, staring at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Catherine. "What's my role in this plan of yours to get the iridium?"

Loki looked at her in confusion. "I wasn't aware you had one."

Catherine frowned. "So you want me to sit on the side-lines and watch on idly by as the rest of you do something to contribute to this plan?"

Loki frowned at her. "What is it exactly you want to do, Catherine? We've got it all covered. You don't need to be in harm's way. You can stay where it's safe."

Catherine folded her arms. "Alright then," she said. "I just thought I could help in some way but you obviously don't need me," she said in mild irritation.

Loki looked at her in disbelief. "Is this you trying to pick a fight? It's pretty petty, Catherine."

Catherine shook her head. "I'm not trying to pick a fight but I did assume that since we're partners, a team, that there would be something you'd need me to do."

Loki smiled a little in amusement. "Oh I can think of a few things but they have nothing to do with the mission." He laughed as she hit his arm again.

"Shut up," Catherine said despite a tiny smile appearing.

Loki laughed and pulled her by the waist towards him. "And what exactly would you want to do to help?" he asked. "Where would you assist us?"

Catherine flushed a dark shade of red and slapped his hands away. "There's no need to mock me," she said quietly and stepped out of his arms. "I'm not the joke you seem to think I am," she said and stormed out of the gym.

XMARVELX

Catherine sat in the drawing room sighing and rubbing her head in exasperation. Was she overreacting? She didn't think so. He clearly thought that what she was suggesting was funny and that really grated on her nerves. She could fight; she was getting better at magic. Surely there was some way she could have helped or if there wasn't, couldn't he have been more diplomatic about it? She felt about an inch tall after the way he'd laughed at her.

It did leave her wondering just what kind of queen he wanted her to be. Someone who could give good advice, but generally stayed away from battle or secret missions and was, for all intents and purposes, a doll to be admired from afar. That was what he seemed to want now but maybe once the Earth had been taken; once they'd won, maybe he wouldn't even care for her opinion anymore.

Catherine shook her head. She should stop thinking that way about Loki; she needed to stop imagining the worst of him. They were supposed to be trusting each other now especially with the plans about to come to fruition and all. But once again, they'd fallen into the steadily growing old habits of fighting again. Sometimes she wondered why they ever bothered but she always reminded herself why in the end. _We love each other_

She was always able to remind herself of the sacrifice that he had been willing to make for her but that didn't mean she had to lay down and do whatever she was told or let people make her think she couldn't help. She had the right to be involved if she was going to be queen of this planet. She wouldn't let Loki belittle her into staying behind like a good girl.

She immediately ran her hands through her hair tugging at it in annoyance. What the hell was wrong with her? She was being unreasonable, irrational and completely over the top. Sure the amusement in Loki's face had been real enough for her to get annoyed but she was making a mountain out of a mole hill now. She needed to calm down and just forget everything she'd built up in her head. She was annoyed at Loki, plain and simple, for seeming to doubt her capabilities of helping out in this mission but that was it; there was no need to imagine such ridiculous things about Loki's visions of her as his queen. She had to face facts for now that Loki didn't need her in his plans, as annoying as that was for her. It was his scheme, he called the shots.

Stressed out, Catherine made her way to her quarters and sat down on the bed, practicing some of her magic, hoping to alleviate the tension she could already feel in her shoulders. She knew she should bathe soon but she figured some magical practice would ease her worry.

XMARVELX

Loki made his way up to his quarters that evening filled with annoyance and dread. He was sick of arguing with Catherine and having to be the one to apologise. She was too bloody sensitive today, reacting like that to some harmless teasing. Even after their sex life was resumed, she blew hot and cold better than anyone he knew and it annoyed him to no end.

He reached the drawing room and didn't see her in there. Making his way towards her door, he stopped and sighed. No, he wasn't going to go crawling after her. He had some pride. When she realised how silly she was for acting that way, she could come and see him.

Her moods were really beginning to grate on him even before they'd sorted things out physically. The only issue they hadn't resolved once they resumed sleeping together was Catherine's fear of getting pregnant again and that wasn't going to go away anytime soon. They'd accepted that they'd have to take one day at a time; it was obvious. There was really no real need for that mood swing this afternoon.

Loki froze. A rather sudden mood swing just weeks after their first had sex… one minute she'd been laughing and the next she'd become sulky and irritable. Loki brought a hand to his face. No, surely she couldn't be… if she was, surely she wouldn't be showing signs already… She hadn't been sick, hadn't been ill at all. She was sleeping normally, surely he was imagining it.

_"I can't handle the thought of getting pregnant again. After what happened with Tyr, the thought terrifies me. Loki I can't do it again, not yet."_

Loki closed his eyes briefly. Lately it seemed fate had thrown at them anything designed to tear them apart, or anything that was the opposite of what they wanted. Could Catherine be pregnant again at a time when she couldn't bear the thought of it? He walked into the drawing room and sank onto one of the couches, looking troubled.

He had barely got to grips, sort of, over Tyr and now the possibility of a second baby was just overwhelming. He couldn't even comprehend what impending fatherhood, or rather second fatherhood would mean to him. It was too much for him to deal with. He ran his hands through his hair. This was the worst time to have a child; if she was pregnant at all. He needed to ask her but at the same time he didn't know what reaction to expect from her. He began to brood, letting his anger fill his heart as all his past frustrations began to build.

XMARVELX

Catherine lay in the bath, all her stress evaporating with the bubbles. The water was wondrously hot and made her forget all her worries as the scents invaded her nostrils and filled her mind with peace. It was a beautiful thing indeed; a bubble bath. It made everything seem like it was going to be okay even if things weren't quite as stable as they should be.

As she lay in the bath, she thought over that afternoon's conversation; what she had said to Loki and how quickly she had snapped at him. It was completely uncalled for even if she did feel ridiculed. They had a lot of humour in their relationship. It was also a matter of principle. She'd gotten sulky just because someone was laughing at her, how childish was that? She was making a habit of making mountains out of molehills. She needed to reign herself in. She sighed as she breathed in some more of the scents. Baths were definitely good places to think.

She relaxed in the bath for another hour before finally getting out and changed into a nightgown and robe. She stepped out into the drawing room and paused in the doorway when she saw that Loki was in there. He looked up at hearing her enter and she was surprised to see his face full of stress and worry. She stepped further into the room.

"Loki?" she asked. "Are you alright? Has something happened?" she asked, her thoughts suddenly full of possibilities of the catastrophes that could have happened whilst she was in the bath; S.H.I.E.L.D finding them, their plan involving the geniuses going wrong, the iridium having been taken and other such obstacles. "S.H.I.E.L.D haven't found us have they?"

Loki shook his head. "No. It's not that which has me thinking," he said a little darkly.

Catherine didn't like the sound of that. She edged closer to the opposite sofa and sat down. "What has got you thinking?" she asked meekly.

Loki looked up at her. "Your behaviour this afternoon was sulky and childish, I hope you know that," he said sharply. Catherine winced at his tone but nodded.

"As a matter of fact I do," she said simply.

Loki's eyes narrowed in surprise but he continued onwards. "I did nothing to deserve such a lashing of your temper and even though things seemed to have been better between us, you seem to constantly find a way to bring us back into a fight."

Catherine bit her lip and swallowed the protest that rose to her lips. She looked up at him anxiously before finally deciding to speak. "All couples have fights, Loki, I admitted I was wrong-" she began.

"I haven't finished," Loki growled. "You seem to be thinking that you can throw a tantrum and I'll come begging for forgiveness but that isn't going to happen. You might be the woman I happen to love but you're not going to bend me to your will-" he began his voice growing more irate.

"I'm not trying to," Catherine cut him off, the stress returning tenfold and a low growl covering her tone. "Nor do I think I can play games with you like that; why would I want to? What possible pleasure would I get out of doing that?" she demanded, growing angrier. She stood up and looked down on him in annoyance. "Come on, I look forward to hearing your explanation for this one since you've got it all worked out!" she yelled mockingly.

She let out a cry as Loki stood up in a fit of rage and tossed the coffee table aside like it was nothing. The glass top smashed into pieces amidst splinters of wood. Catherine backed up against the window as Loki cornered her there. His chest was heaving with rage.

"I've had enough of your outbursts, your over-sensitivity today has reminded me of just how many problems we've had, which, incidentally, have been caused by you throwing a strop or freaking out because you're not getting your own way!" Loki growled at her.

Catherine took deep breaths trying to hold her ground. "You make me sound like a spoiled brat and that is not who I am. You knew why I was having issues," she said.

"Yeah and you still messed me about," Loki reminded her.

"I accepted that; I knew I'd done wrong in leading you on," Catherine said quietly. "I just didn't know what to do with myself."

"It seems like you never do," said Loki. "It constantly feels like you're some fractured puzzle that's been put back together the wrong way."

Catherine bit her lip. "If I'm fractured it's only because I spent two years thinking you were dead!" she snarled angrily.

Loki stepped back, laughing coldly. "Oh it comes back to that does it? Are you going to suddenly decide that you don't believe in my love anymore too?"

"No, I believe you love me," said Catherine. "Though right now you have a funny way of showing it. You keep throwing things back in my face, perhaps it's my turn." She stepped forward angrily. "Maybe I am fractured, maybe I am damaged but I can't help that can I? I can't help it if I felt so mixed up, I didn't know what I wanted and when."

Loki turned away from her and paced across the room. "Oh there's no doubt there's something not quite right with you. I just can't decide if it's you being damaged or something else."

Catherine sighed in anger. "Where has all this come from? Just from today or have you been waiting to build it all up and throw it at me?" she demanded.

"Today made me realise just how much you seem to ruin things between us," Loki said. "We get back on track, you do something to upset us again. Two weeks ago when you left the bedroom when we were supposed to be doing magic, you got kidnapped by Chitauri and almost ruined the plans. That was the latest in a growing line of problems you've caused."

Catherine glowered. "How long have you wanted to throw that in my face? I told you to put the plans first. I didn't want you resenting me. Anyway it worked out, you told me the Chitauri have made another deal with you," she shrugged.

"Yes but it was only my genius that got us out of that scrape. I would have had to have given it all up for you," Loki hissed.

"No, you didn't _have _to do anything. You speak like I'm a burden. I told you to leave me there. I didn't want you to sacrifice your dream for me." Catherine said bluntly. "You made that choice."

"I made it because I _love _you," said Loki. "Despite your behaviour, I love you beyond all reason."

Catherine stepped forward. "You know that I regret the problems that I cause. I don't feel good about them," she said. "I didn't want you to resent me for putting you in that position."

"You should never have wandered off," retorted Loki.

"I was ashamed of what I was becoming, what I was doing to you; I couldn't think of doing magic because I just felt so guilty. I didn't know the Chitauri person would come and take me." She walked closer to him. "I'm sorry, Loki, I'm sorry for everything." She reached out for his hands but he pulled away from her.

"Catherine, you can't just keep saying these things to make me feel better and then ruin things between us again," he said quietly.

Catherine lowered her hands sadly. "I didn't mean to ruin things again today. I know what I said was childish and stupid, I get that. I was just over-sensitive."

"Well that's the golden question isn't it?" Loki said looking up at her. "Your mood changed like that," he snapped his fingers at her, "and suddenly everything was bad again. You can see why I might not be pleased by that. The worst part of this is that, this time it might not even be your fault." he said.

Catherine looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that mood swings are one of the first signs of pregnancy," said Loki.

Catherine froze. "You think I'm pregnant?"

"It's possible. We've been fucking for two weeks," Loki shrugged.

Catherine winced at his crudeness. "Well I don't know, I don't feel pregnant."

Loki shook his head. "Well then I'll have to use my magic to find out."

Catherine threw up her hands. "And then what? If I'm not pregnant; what are you going to do? Write me off as some manipulative little bitch?" she demanded.

Loki scowled at her. "We need to know for sure," he said ignoring her question. He raised his hands and held them above her stomach. Catherine looked down and watched as a small glow encircled her stomach. The magic was searching for signs of life, she knew. The light shimmered pale for a second before disappearing. She looked up at Loki who was lowering his hands with a frown.

"You're not pregnant," he told her.

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief before something occurred to her. "How long have you thought I might have been pregnant?" she asked.

Loki looked up at her, still frowning. "A few hours," he told her reluctantly.

Catherine sighed angrily. "So what now? You've made it clear that nothing I say will put this right. I've said it before and I'll say it again, over and over, as many times as it takes for however long." She paused. "I'm so sorry for putting you through more burdens than you deserve. I've treated you unfairly even if I didn't mean to. I accept that I have behaved thoughtlessly but I never pretended to be perfect. I love you more than my own life and I would do anything for you to believe that," she told him. "I don't know what else I can say. Today was a stupid over-sensitive moment. A blip in my moods; all women have them but because I have form for picking fights and being stupid, I can't have that luxury," she said unhappily.

She walked up to him again and took his hands. She kept hold of them but this time he didn't pull away. She looked into his face as he looked away from her. Finally he turned back to her.

"Catherine, I want to believe that you're truly sorry and that you have accepted the blame but what about the next time it happens?" Loki asked. "I can't keep putting up with all your outbursts no matter how much I love you. It's not good for us."

Catherine let go of his hands. "You think it's best if we split up?" she asked fighting back tears.

Loki looked over at her. "I don't want that; not in a billion years but if things don't start changing then we stand no chance of a future together."

Catherine nodded. "You're right."

Loki squeezed her hands. "I want a future with you, Catherine," he told her firmly. "I love you but you need to trust in me more and believe in me, I need you to believe in me," he whispered to her, dipping his head to look into her face. "Can you do that?"

She looked into his eyes and nodded slowly. "Yes, Loki," she said quietly. He brought a hand up to her head and gently stroked her hair. He kissed her forehead, closing his eyes as he did so.

"So no more tantrums about not getting to be part of tomorrow night's heist," said Loki gently.

"I told you, I was just being moody," Catherine began but Loki shook his head.

"It was still a reminder of the problems we've had in the past. I have no doubt that our life together won't be all sunshine and rainbow bridges but we've already had so many problems and lost so much; don't we deserve a chance at happiness?" he asked, gently kissing her cheek.

"Of course," said Catherine.

"No doubt we'll have our problems in the future, Catherine, but for now, I want us to have a glorious present, united in our love and our goals," he told her.

"I'm sorry, Loki, I'll try and be better," she said. "I'll make myself better, I won't be that broken puzzle anymore. I'll put myself back together."

"No," said Loki as he nuzzled her hair. "_We _will put you back together." Catherine raised her head as Loki leant in and kissed her lips. She returned it gently and stroked his face with both hands.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I'm glad to hear it because I could never love anyone else the way I love you. I couldn't love anyone else, period." Loki told her.

She looked up at him smiling a little. They stood there arms slowly winding round each other for a few minutes. She gently stroked his neck as she looked up at him. She found a question rising in her mind and decided to broach the topic.

"Loki," she began. "What did you think when you thought I might be pregnant? How did it make you feel?" she asked curiously.

Loki looked pained. "Honestly?" he asked. Catherine nodded slowly, her heart pounding. "I was horrified," he admitted. "Having a baby now when we had so many issues of our own was just the worst possible timing. We had the conquest of Midgard to consider too which made it even worse. Not to mention I knew how frightened you were about another pregnancy. I knew that it was just horrible timing especially for you after Tyr. I couldn't stand to see you put through something that caused you so much pain last time when you're still healing from Tyr," he told her looking into her eyes. He stroked her face. "I'm still trying to make sense of what happened to Tyr. I didn't get to have the same experiences with him as you did. Another child would have been too much for us to bear. I think it would have destroyed us in the end. We wouldn't have coped, not short of a miracle anyway," he admitted. "I'm sorry; I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear."

Catherine released a breath and looked up at Loki with new resolve in her eyes. "Actually, that was exactly what I needed to hear; because it means we're both on the same page. Having another baby is too soon and there's too much going on. I was worried that if I was pregnant, you'd be happy about it and I'd just have to deal with it."

Loki cupped her neck between his hands. "No, you wouldn't. I'd want to make sure you wanted it too. If we're ever going to bring another child into this world, I want it to be something we both want to do. This is our second chance, Catherine. We've fumbled about it long enough. Our fresh start begins tomorrow, with the dawning of a new world. We have all the time in the world to think about children, our future and anything else that goes with it."

Catherine's face broke into a relieved smile and she wrapped her arms around his neck as they shared a gentle kiss.


	23. A little bit of love and tenderness

**Author's Note: **This is another M chapter, should have put a warning up on the one before last but oh well. This is probably the last saucy scene that we'll have for a while since we're now crossing into Avengers territory but you never know what'll happen now there's another character in the plot

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Two_

Loki was already up and getting dressed when Catherine woke up. She stirred with a small groan and rolled onto her back, feeling around and realising Loki wasn't there. She sat up sleepily and blinked the tiredness out of her eyes. She clutched the covers close to her, preserving her modesty as she shifted forward on the bed and her eyes found Loki, a towel at his feet, slipping into some dark trousers. He glanced up at her, shooting her a smile as he fastened them. "Good morning, beautiful," he said with a grin as he slid a silk green high collared shirt over his shoulders. He buttoned it and walked over to the bed, sitting at the bottom of it in front of her. He gently reached up and caressed her face softly. "Sleep okay?" he asked. "You were fidgeting in the night," he murmured.

"Oh it was just a dream," Catherine said brushing it off with a wan smile.

"A nightmare you mean?" Loki said watching her intently. "You weren't screaming but I woke up when I felt you moving about."

"Sorry," Catherine said looking down. "Guess I was just a bit anxious about today."

Loki leant in and kissed her forehead gently. "Today will go smoothly, you need not fret so," he told her with a light smile. He moved his lips down to hers and kissed her lovingly. She reached up and placed her hand on his face, pulling him closer. He hummed lightly against her lips and she smiled against his mouth. When he pulled back he smiled at her. "We'll have to find a way to celebrate our victory tonight," he murmured in a low sexy tone.

Catherine grinned against his mouth even more. "I can certainly think of a few things," she murmured and lowered her hand from his cheek to his pants, gently caressing his crotch. He growled as he claimed her lips again and she felt his trousers tighten, noting this with some amusement. Loki trailed hot intense kisses down her cheek, jaw and neck releasing soft moans from Catherine as she gently stroked across his groin. His hips jerked towards her hand.

"Catherine," he hissed against her neck. He groaned as she moved her hand but only to reach up to his shirt and start undoing his buttons. "Catherine, I have things to do today…"

"Yeah," she whispered huskily in his ear. "Me." He groaned loudly and trailed his kisses back up to her lips again, claiming her mouth hotly. He sat up straighter and pulled her with him so she was sat in his lap. She looked intently into his eyes as she began to unbutton his shirt.

"You have all day to meet with the team. If I'm going to be staying there then I want to feel your imprint all over my body," Catherine whispered in his ear huskily. Loki shrugged the shirt off faster than Catherine thought it was possible. He wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer. Catherine's arms looped around his neck as his mouth began to ravage her collarbone. She gasped loudly as he bit a particularly sensitive spot. She felt his hands travel around her chest and cup her breasts. Her breathing became shallower as she looked down in anticipation.

Loki began to smirk as he massaged the flesh softly and slowly. It was Catherine's turn to moan at the contact, releasing mewling cries as his thumbs grazed the peaks. She closed her eyes tilting her head back in ecstasy. Loki placed more soft kisses along the top of her chest and her collarbones.

Catherine gasped in delight at the contact, her hips slowly rocking against his. "Loki…" she purred in his ear as she kept her arms around his neck, needing to hold onto something. His hands continued their wonderful ministrations, kneading the soft flesh and caressing the tips. She whispered his name over and over again ecstasy. His lips began to trail up her neck and she turned her head and met his lips with hers. She groaned into his mouth and intensified the kiss.

Loki's hands picked up the pace and he could feel Catherine's breathing growing heavier. He gently caressed the underside of her breasts and she let out a small cry in his mouth. It was heaven to see what he was doing to her without involving her womanhood at all. She was so sensitive with her breasts that he wondered if he could bring her to a climax with these ministrations alone. He grinned to himself, accepting the challenge it offered. His own pleasure could wait; in fact it would be a wonderful boost if he could give this to her. His thumbs returned to her nipples and gently began to flick them, stroke them and circle them. He felt her shuddering with the pleasure and he grinned against her mouth. His tongue battled hers for dominance, exploring the inside of her mouth. He pulled away to breathe and noted with relish that Catherine's face was totally red. He laughed a little before removing his fingers from her hardened nubs and caressing her breasts instead.

He saw Catherine look around disappointed before he brought his mouth to one of her nipples. His eyes met hers as he began to swirl his tongue around the peak; tasting it, teasing it and rolling it between his tongue and teeth. Catherine's eyes were leaking tears of pleasure and she was shaking so hard now. She caressed his hair, moaning out loud and tugging on his locks. He used his left hand to up the pleasure on her other breast and Catherine raised her hips in his lap before settling down again only to repeat the action. He groaned against her lips and moved his right hand from her breast so he could wrap his arm around her hips and hold her steady. She whined in displeasure and he looked up at her with a slightly evil grin. He continued to suckle at her breast for a few more minutes before pulling back and turning his attention to the other one before switching hands so his left arm was around her waist and his right caressing her other breast. He took it between his lips and did the same thing, suckling, biting and teasing the nub until it was as red and sore as the other one was. Catherine's moans were louder than ever now and her breathing was coming out in pants. He adored what he could do to this woman and know only he could do it to her, bring her to this brink of pleasure and then push her over the edge. And push her, he did. Catherine's breathing hitched after a couple of minutes as her climax hit her hard. Her body shuddered in his arms as she came in his lap, screaming in rapture before letting her head fall onto his shoulder.

Loki laughed a little, kissing her head affectionately; proud that he had been able to give this to her. She leant against him catching her breath and looking up at him. He stroked her face gently before picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the bed, lying her down in the middle of it. He used his magic to strip the rest of his clothes from his body and climbed onto the bed, moving over her. She looked so tired from her climax and yet so beautifully ethereal, lying there with her skin shimmering in sweat. She looked up at him with pleading eyes as he covered her body with his. He propped himself up on his elbows and kissed her nose affectionately. She slid her hands up his chest and neck, coming to rest on his cheeks.

Loki reached down and pulled her knees up so he was surrounded by her thighs. He stroked his hands around her rear, massaging her cheeks and enticing a soft moan from her. He remembered the first time he'd done this to her back in Asgard when he was King. He was glad to see that it had the same effect; that not everything had changed. Her body still responded to him in the same way.

He slid his wrists and lower arms underneath her body so that he was cradling her. She looked up at him lovingly, smiling as he leant down and kissed her cheek, moving across to her lips. Their kiss was deep, meaningful and full of the love they'd promised each other the night before. Loki was glad she'd distracted him for now because he wanted to pour all his love for her into this moment before he left to expose himself potentially to S.H.I.E.L.D.

He slid inside her with a gentle grace, making her groan with pleasure, her head tilted back in ecstasy. She stroked his cheeks as she stared up at him. He began to move inside her but not with the same rough and passionate pacing they'd been enjoying the last few weeks or so but with a slow and powerful pleasure building movement. He wasn't having sex with her at this moment; he was _making love _to her. Her hands moved to his shoulders and he smiled down at her as he moved.

It amazed him how much he'd come to accept his own love for this woman. There were so many people who believed love to be a weakness but he knew different; his love for Catherine drove him on, gave him even more purpose. Seeing her lying beneath him, smiling, encouraging him was enough to give him confidence in himself and what he could do and he wasn't just talking about his prowess in the bedroom either. Catherine had always been a source of confidence for him and to have her here with him now as his plans mounted was just perfect.

He grunted as Catherine's thighs clamped over his hips and he drove deeper into her, producing mewling sounds from her. Her series of gasps, moans and slight squeals spurred him on. She slid her hands into his hair again and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Loki," she whispered. "Be careful tonight…" she murmured, her voice soaked with pleasure. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Ssshhhh," Loki whispered. "You won't ever have to be without me again, I promise," he murmured, kissing her collarbone briefly before returning to her lips and kissing her again. "I'll be careful, I'll come back to you…" he kissed her neck, tasting her sweaty skin. "You don't have to worry, my queen…. I will always come back to you." He looked into her eyes and saw tears pooling there. He reached up and kissed them away. Their foreheads rested together whilst their bodies moved in sync. Loki gasped with pleasure as he pressed Catherine so hard into the bed that he could feel her buttocks against his thighs. He pecked Catherine's lips with a grin. "I could never get tired of this… you're like tasting Valhalla, Catherine." Catherine whimpered in pleasure and emotion at his words and tilted her head back, her nose brushing Loki's as she did so.

Loki moved his hands from underneath Catherine and slowly unwound her legs from his waist. Catherine shot him a confused look before she watched him place her legs over his shoulders. He turned his head and began trailing hot kisses down her thighs, pushing himself harder into her. Catherine mewled in passionate ecstasy as Loki's tongue trailed down her leg. He did the same to her other leg before wrapping them both around his waist again and propping his elbows either side of her head. He began to stroke her hair as he moved against her.

He claimed Catherine's lips again, swallowing her gasp of delight. They kissed intensely as they both felt their climaxes bubble up inside them, threatening to pour out of them.

"Loki…" Catherine murmured. "I feel like… I'm going to explode…" she whispered.

Loki grinned down at her lovingly. "Come for me…" he whispered. "Don't hold back, Catherine."

She screamed as she hit her climax and Loki growled out loud when he followed suit, pouring himself into her shaking body and sinking onto her in exhaustion. Catherine's arms wrapped around him as she lowered her legs exhausted from their activities. They lay like that for a long time.

XMARVELX

Catherine hadn't realised she'd dozed off until she woke up, half sitting, propped up by Loki's chest as he sat against some of the pillows he'd placed up against the headboard. She looked down sleepily and saw that their lower bodies were covered by the quilt. Loki's arms were around her, covering her modesty. She felt so safe in these arms and she smiled as she leant against his shoulder.

"You're awake," Loki said smiling down at her. "How do you feel?"

"Amazing…" Catherine murmured though she had to admit her breasts felt rather sore and swollen but she wasn't about to complain about that considering how they had come to be so had been fun. "How about you? Are you glad I distracted you?" she asked, looking up at him.

Loki chuckled, kissing her head. "Oh most definitely; I feel wonderful, able to take on this world and smash it to pieces and-" he grinned down at her before she cut him off with a laugh.

"-rebuild it in whatever image you like," she mused. "I'm glad I gave you confidence."

"Rebuild it in whatever image _we _like," Loki corrected her. He turned her slightly in his arms. "You've been giving me confidence for longer than I remember," he told her. He leant in and kissed her lips.

He glanced up at the clock and reluctantly Catherine followed suit. It was almost noon. He and the others were going to need to be in Germany by six. She glanced up at him as he looked regretfully down at her. She smiled a little. "You better go and talk with the team," she told him. "I'll be waiting," she said promising him.

Loki rolled on top of her, pressing his lips to hers in one last passionate kiss in which they embraced each other tightly before pulling away and climbing out of bed. She pulled the pillows back to their usual places and sank down onto them, sleep creeping up on her again.

XMARVELX

Loki showered (again) and dressed quickly, smoothing down his hair. As he finished, he glanced over at the bed and couldn't help an amused smile when he saw that Catherine had fallen asleep again. He made his way over to her and covered her up some more before lightly kissing her forehead.

"I'll be back, my love, always for you," he said before placing a light kiss on her sleeping lips. "I love you," he whispered finally before straightening up and leaving the room.

**Author's Note: **Well originally this chapter was gonna be longer and have the start of the Avengers plot in but I've decided to make that a separate chapter. Yay I finally managed to put the romantic love scene in that I really wanted to do but the story developed differently. For those who are wondering in case it wasn't obvious, Loki and Catherine's emotional relationship is a lot better now and for all you action scene fans, there's a lot more where that came from, coming up. Thank you for reading and please review! Big love hugs to **ferretfood **and **AlbetaxRose** for your constant reviews!


	24. Situation in Stuttgart

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Three_

Getting the iridium had been the easy part of the plan and Loki couldn't deny that he got a real buzz out of the terror he caused from pinning the director down and using his torture instrument to carve out the man's eyeball. The sounds of people screaming and running like hellhounds towards the doors filled his ears with a pleasant sensation. Keeping the instrument on the man long enough for the eyeball socket to be sent to Hawkeye so he could get into the iridium container room had allowed Loki to look all around him as the people fled the room.

No one had tried to stop him, not even the security. They just ran from him as though they sensed his power. Loki smirked as he watched them flee, feeling the instrument finishing its job. He pulled it away, deactivated it and put the instrument back into his pocket before he grabbed the sceptre and began to walk out after the humans. He summoned his magic and felt his smart human suit disappear, replaced with his Asgardian armour. The feel of the helmet on his head gave him a thrill and a reminder of his new purpose. It was time to show the humans what he was really made of.

He stepped out into the night, enjoying the sounds of humans screaming even more once they realised he was following them. He crossed the road and heard a siren fill the air. He glanced across before sending a blast from the sceptre at the oncoming police car, sending it crash into another building. He smirked and turned back to the people, coming to a stop and slamming the bottom of the sceptre on the floor.

Instantly a duplicate of him appeared in front of the people. "Kneel before me!" it called out to the humans. They took no notice and tried to run in another direction. A second duplicate blocked their path making them cry out in terror. Loki's irritation began to rise. "I said," he began in a normal voice and his next word thundered over the crowds, "KNEEL!" The power in his voice echoed over the street and slowly, in pure terror, the people began to kneel before him.

Loki grinned and began to walk forwards. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" he asked in a silky tone. He lowered his sceptre over them all. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity; that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled; in the end, you will always kneel."

XMARVELX

Catherine stood behind the team as they observed the video feed of Loki terrorising the humans. Catherine folded her arms as she watched him; he was so exposed out there. What was he doing? He should be returning home with the iridium right about now. She pressed the earpiece she was wearing and turned from the team. "Agent Barton," she called.

"Yes my lady?" his voice was a little crackly on the other end.

"What is Loki doing?" she asked. "Have you got the iridium?"

"Yes, ma'am. Loki is keeping them distracted to ease our escape. He will be re-joining us shortly." Barton told her. Catherine pursed her lips.

"Make sure he does, please," she said before ending the call. She turned back to the screen. An old man had stood up and Catherine felt her heart twinge. What was that stupid mortal doing?

"Not to men like you," the man was saying.

Loki was chuckling. "There are no men like me."

"There are always men like you," the old man insisted.

Loki's face became a mask of anger. "Look to your elder, people," he began raising the sceptre which glowed blue, its light a ball in the darkness of the street. Catherine held her breath in horror. "Let him be an example," Loki said coldly. The old man prepared to get blasted but as the blast left Loki's sphere, a blur of blue, red and white landed on the ground in front of the old man, bearing some kind of shield which sent the blast right back at Loki. Catherine brought a hand to her mouth in horror as Loki crashed to the floor. The figure stood up and Catherine stared at him in vague familiarity. He seemed familiar. He was dressed in a spangly outfit that didn't look normal around Earth. His shield was powerful indeed and he was well built. Catherine frowned, trying to remember where she'd seen him before.

"You know," the figure spoke. "The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier; the man out of time," sneered Loki. Catherine's eyes widened. Captain America.

"I'm not the one who's out of time," said Captain America. Just as Catherine was beginning to feel alarm creeping into her veins it exploded tenfold as a ship materialised out of thin air and a gun loaded from it. It pointed directly at Loki. A woman's voice echoed from it.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Catherine looked horrified. S.H.I.E.L.D had found Loki. She hadn't expected them to get across the Atlantic so fast. How had that happened? Loki hadn't been there that long; unless they hadn't been in America at all. She turned to the team ready to give out instructions to get Loki out of there. Meanwhile Loki was responding by sending a powerful blast up at the ship which managed to swerve out the way. Meanwhile Captain America launched himself at Loki resulting in a vicious fight with the humans running away from the scene, screaming. Catherine sunk down into an empty seat staring at the screen. She clicked her earpiece again. "Barton…" she began and heard him respond.

"It's S.H.I.E.L.D alright. We're trying to find a way to get Loki out of there without losing the iridium. If we lose that, all of this has been for nothing."

_If we lose Loki, all I have worked hard for has been for nothing, _Catherine thought to herself. She looked back at the screen; the fight was still going on. For a moment it looked like Loki had Captain America on his knees but a swift flexible kick had Loki on the defensive and the fight carried on. The sounds of rockets filled the air and a bright flash of moving light flew through the air, descending to the ground and crashed right into Loki. The force of the impact sent him flying and caused him to land sprawled on the steps. The bright light turned out to be a man all in metal who rose up. He pointed his arms at Loki and guns popped out of them. "Make your move, reindeer games," he said.

To Catherine's disbelief, Loki raised his hands in surrender. What the hell was he doing? Why was he giving up? He could easily take those guys! She watched on, reluctantly, as the man in iron retracted his guns. Well that was a foolish move; Loki had the advantage again. She waited for Loki to do something but instead he was using his magic to transform out of his armour. The man in iron was lowering his arms; providing yet another opportunity that Loki didn't take.

"Good move," he told Loki.

Catherine could only watch on in utter confusion as Captain America and Iron Man (now she'd realised who he was) were leading Loki off towards the landing shuttle. Catherine watched as they boarded it with him. He wasn't even struggling. A memory like this one rose to the surface of Catherine's mind, tormenting her.

_Loki's eyes seemed to focus at last and a sadness crept into a tiny smile before it dropped and Loki reached up, his fingers gently brushing hers. Catherine took hold of his hand, smiling in relief before Loki released her fingers, his hand sliding out of her grip. With his other hand he released his hold of the staff at the same time. With nothing holding him to the bridge, Loki slowly fell into the cosmic space below, arms stretched in a kind of graceful motion._

_Catherine's eyes became wild. "NO!" she roared. "LOKI!" she screamed. "LOKI NO!"_

_She watched him disappear into the beautiful space dust below screaming fruitlessly all the while._

Catherine took a shaky breath; this was just like when he fell off the bridge. How could he do that? After all the promises he'd made to her? She bit her lip and fought back tears before she pressed the earpiece again. "Barton, what the _hell_ is he doing?" she asked.

"I have no idea either, my lady. He could have taken both those guys on," Barton affirmed. "This has complicated the mission. If we go after him then we'll risk losing the iridium."

"But if we don't then we lose Loki," Catherine pointed out.

"I don't know what he's playing at," Barton admitted. "He's twice as strong as they are."

Catherine looked visibly upset. "Then why didn't he fight them? He even disarmed himself for them!" She spoke with a frantic irritation. "He didn't fight them as they took him into custody did he? He just let them take him, like he'd given up! Why would he do that?" She cried out angrily.

She heard an intake of breath on the other end of the earpiece. "Maybe that's what he wanted," said Barton. "Maybe he's let them take him on purpose. You said it yourself; he acted like he'd given up when he could have easily taken them. He must have an ulterior motive. He wants something from them and he needs to be captive to do it."

Catherine's eyes widened. "Like information?"

"I don't know but I think it's obvious he's up to something now," said Barton.

She was forced to watch as the shuttle rose into the air. She closed her eyes in frustration briefly before opening them again. "Track that ship and bring the iridium back to base. If this is all part of Loki's plan then we need to make sure everything stays on track."


	25. Brotherhood and separation

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Four_

Catherine was waiting with Erik when the shuttle from Germany arrived back, without Loki but with the iridium needed to complete the dimension splitter. The other materials had already been collected and were being set up in the laboratory. Catherine watched as Erik took the iridium from Agent Barton. She and Barton turned and headed back to the house together. It was a cool night and the wind was blowing quite fiercely despite the house being nestled in the valley.

"What's going to be done about getting Loki back?" Catherine demanded as they stepped inside.

"Well we can't go after them immediately," Barton told her. "He clearly has plans with them that might involve a few days waiting," he added.

"A few days?!" Catherine asked in disbelief.

"We'll give him a few days and then go to rescue him," Barton explained. "In the meantime, S.H.I.E.L.D will be focused on him which now gives us the opportunity to move our equipment to Stark Tower," he informed her.

Catherine sighed resentfully. Barton made a lot of sense, he was a rational man. Of course she couldn't be rational about this. She was in love with Loki. She wasn't seeing the same picture that Barton was. She nodded slowly at his words. "Send the word that starting tomorrow we start clearing out the base…" she told him and headed upstairs quietly towards the third floor.

Once she arrived she looked around sadly. She could see the damaged coffee table still lying in the middle of the drawing room. Turning to the right she moved towards Loki's room slowly. She stepped inside and closed the door, fighting back her emotions. Walking into the centre of the room, Catherine remembered the last time they'd been in here; they'd been making love and Loki had promised to return to her. He told her he always would.

_Loki, you're either going to have to really fight to keep your promise or you're a horrific liar even to yourself and to me, _she silently told him. She moved over to the bed and sat down. After he'd left she had slept for another hour before returning to her own quarters to practice magic. Running a hand over the sheets, Catherine remembered how tenderly he'd touched her and how beautiful his words had been spoken to her in the heat of their passion.

_Loki, I hope you know what you're doing…_

XMARVELX

They'd barely made it across Europe and were heading out over the Atlantic Ocean when the ship had been boarded by someone Loki was not so pleased to see. One minute he'd been strapped into a chair and the next Thor had appeared on the landing ramp and punched Iron Man backwards before he grabbed Loki, pulled him from his restraints and marched him out of the ship. Now they were falling/flying through the air thanks to Thor's hammer and a powerful grip on Loki.

Loki hit the ground hard and painfully on a rocky fell. His body ached from the impact in which he'd hit the earth. He groaned and lay still for a few minutes as he waited for his body to recover from the shock. A strange urge to laugh came over him at the irony of seeing Thor again when the humans had captured him. He chuckled as he lay on the ground.

Thor was not looking amused. "Where is the Tessaract?"

Loki laughed again. "I missed you too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor growled angrily.

Loki began to sit up slowly. "You should thank me; with the BiFrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to conjure to muster you here, your precious Earth? " he asked, spite and hatred clear in his voice. He bent over and placed his hands on the floor, pushing himself to his feet but suddenly a loud clanking sound echoed around them and he found himself dragged to his feet. Thor's hand clamped around Loki's neck painfully as he held him in a vice like grip.

"I thought you dead," he said his voice heavy with emotion.

"Did you mourn?" Loki sneered.

"We all did!" Thor replied fiercely. "Catherine suffered terribly after you disappeared. She went through hell; a hell that you could have spared her!" he growled.

Loki tensed up. Hearing Thor talk about Catherine during that period was striking something within him. Part of him wanted Thor to continue talking and tell him how badly Catherine had suffered but a smaller part of him wanted to block it out. In the end he decided to let Thor talk. After all it was no secret that Loki had loved Catherine even if he was trying to shut his family out of his life.

"Did she?" he asked, playing dumb.

"She was a wreck," growled Thor. "She had to be looked after so often to make sure she was taking care of herself. Your selfish decision left her heartbroken and do you know what the worst thing was?" Thor asked angrily.

"No but I'm sure you're going to tell me," Loki said snidely covering up the anxiety he felt at Thor being about to remind him of his worst decision so far.

"She was pregnant; she was expecting your child, Loki. A child that should have grown up to be healthy and happy but instead died inside of her. She had to deliver him stillborn."

"A son…" Loki said calmly.

"Yes, you are a father," said Thor. "I am not so sure you deserve to be one, deserve to have the gift of a child. You do not deserve it."

Loki's rage got the better of him at that statement and he struggled angrily in Thor's grip, pushing back against his adoptive brother. "Say that again, I dare you!" he hissed viciously.

"You left her; you're the one who broke her and we picked up the pieces!" Thor thundered. "We, who had our own grievances to bear…"

Loki scoffed at that. "Don't pretend you care; the only one who cared for me was Catherine."

"Don't you think that!" Thor thundered. "We still love you; you are still my brother and still their son! As for Catherine, you needlessly hurt her."

"I would not have put her through that for anything else but necessity!" Loki spat. "I would have been ridiculed and humiliated if I had stayed."

"You would have been forgiven; free to be with the woman you loved but no, you couldn't do that. Now her blood is on your hands," Thor said darkly.

Loki was sharply reminded that Thor must think Catherine dead. He narrowed his eyes in fake confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Thor released Loki and looked away, stepping backwards. "Catherine couldn't cope. After losing your son, she went into a meltdown. We had to get Sif to take her out, get her fit and keep her busy. She wasn't coping at all. When the anniversary of your disappearance came around, she was in a state. When the anniversary of your son's death came round, she was a little better; like someone who is existing but not living. For a while we thought she'd get better but the second anniversary of losing you came round and…" Thor paused. "… it must have been too much for her. She jumped off the Rainbow Bridge that night," he told Loki. "She committed suicide."

Loki struggled to keep his emotions in check but allowed the fresh wave of pain to bubble to the surface. "She's dead? She… she killed herself because… because of me?" he asked.

Thor looked up at him sadly. "I'm sorry brother."

"I'm not your brother!" hissed Loki. "So much for looking after her, you claim to be so worried when she wasn't coping that you left her on her own to do something like this!" he growled at Thor taking out his annoyance at his former family having obviously left Catherine alone at times to deal with it.

"Don't you blame me!" spat Thor. "You abandoned her first! Do you want to know your son's name, Loki? You haven't even asked. It was Tyr… Tyr Lokison. Do you even care that the woman you used to love lost your baby and even named it after you?"

Loki surged forwards pushing Thor back against the rock, taking the stronger god by surprise. "Don't you tell me how I feel or do not feel about Catherine or the child!" he said aggressively. "I have always loved Catherine; nothing you can do will make it any less true or change it."

Thor pushed his brother back. "Then stop what you are doing, for her sake, leave Earth alone!" he snarled at him. "Tell me where the Tessaract is."

Loki just sneered. "No. Make me."

Thor grabbed hold of him again. "You should be ashamed of yourself," he said. "Our father-"

"_Your _father," Loki corrected. "He did tell you my true parentage did he not?" he asked as he pushed past Thor and started walking around the ridge, stretching his aching legs.

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together; do you remember none of that?" Thor asked, his voice filled with insistence and pain.

"I remember a shadow," Loki admitted. "Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be King."

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights," Thor scoffed. "No," he said seeing Loki go to protest. "The Earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki laughed cruelly. "And you're doing a marvellous job with that; the humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I need to rule them so why should I not?"

Thor stared at his brother in disbelief. "You think yourself above them?"

Loki pulled a face. "Well yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. The throne would suit you ill." Thor told him simply.

Loki made a noise between a hiss and a growl before pushing Thor aside and walking back up to the ridge. "I've seen worlds you've never known about; I have grown, _Odinson_, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tessaract and when I wield it-"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor demanded. "Who controls it would be King," he added.

"I AM A KING!" Loki snapped.

Once again Thor grabbed hold of Loki tightly by the neck. "NOT HERE!" he roared. "You give up the Tessaract, you give up this poisonous dream… and you come home," he spoke the last part softly.

Loki let out a laugh. "I don't have it." Thor glared and pushed himself away from Loki upon hearing that. He raised his hammer to threaten Loki but Loki merely continued. "You need to cube to bring me home but I've sent it off, I know not where," Loki said simply.

Thor raised his hammer. "Listen well, brother-" he began before being body slammed off the cliff by Iron Man. Loki stood alone on the ridge, staring out into the night.

"I'm listening," he muttered. He turned and looked out over the forest where Thor and Iron Man were arguing. Loki soon lost interest in following the conversation. He sat down smirking at them.

His thoughts drifted to France where Catherine would be waiting for him. Barton would probably have told her what was happening by now. No doubt she'd be worried about him not coming back. He recalled the promises he'd made to her during their love making; he'd promised to come back. Would she think he didn't mean them? What was going through her head right now? Whatever she might think, he knew he'd definitely come back to her. This was only a temporary stop, to cause as much trouble for the Avengers as possible. Hopefully Barton would take the hint and use this distraction wisely for the plan to succeed.

_I will come home, Catherine, just wait for me…_


	26. The Avengers

**Author's Note: **A big thank you to my reviewers as usual. In answer to your review **AlbertaxRose **Thor was trying to remain calm; he is furious with Loki but he's prioritising getting him back over being too angry at the moment. He's relying on Odin to make Loki feel bad too once he gets him back home to Asgard. However I have pondered putting another Thor/Loki scene into the story once Loki is in the cage, a few times already and writing the brothers is fun so I've decided to include it in this chapter. Oh and fair warning I'll be putting a bit of a gap of time between the Loki / Natasha conversation and the scene where everything goes to hell on that ship. Enjoy!

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Five_

Loki had been in S.H.I.E.L.D's custody for over 24 hours now and there was no denying he was bored even if he was here with a purpose. Being the God of Mischief, Loki always liked to be doing something. He wasn't the sit still for long type of person so he took to just wandering his cell, losing himself in thoughts of his plans with the Chitauri and the oncoming battle. He needed some time to let the Avengers get riled up by his ridiculously calm presence. Once discord began to spread, he knew how to make his escape.

He was in the middle of crossing the space in his cell when he heard the door open loudly and heavy footsteps cross the metal floor towards the cage. Loki looked up to see Thor stood there, arms folded and not looking happy. _But then when it comes to me, when does he ever? _Loki told himself with amusement and pride. He slowly turned to face his "brother" and grinned slightly.

"They've sent you to interrogate me? Let me guess; they want to try the softly-softly family approach where you coax me into confessing all my darkest plans?" Loki said with a slight sneer.

"Listen well, brother," Thor said stepping forward.

"I'm still listening," Loki retorted in amusement.

"You think this is a game?" growled Thor. "After what I told you about Catherine and your child, you can still joke like nothing's happened?"

Loki's face fell a bit. "I'm trying not to think about how your neglect of her pushed her off that bridge, to be perfectly honest. It makes me feel murderous towards you. But that's not allowed in this brotherly chat is it? Murderous feelings and all."

Thor's face contorted with rage and he raised his hammer, only to resist the urge to throw it against the cage. He stepped back, calming himself. Loki raised his eyebrows. "Still easily angered I see," he mused. "The Allfather must be proud."

"Shut up!" Thor bellowed. "Just tell me where the Tessaract is or who has it? You're not leaving here to go ahead with your plans and as soon we find them out; you're coming home with me."

"Asgard is not my ho-"

"You grew up there! You learnt your craft there! You can't turn your back on all that just because _our _father did you a favour!"

It was Loki's turn to redden slightly with rage. He slammed his fist against the cage wall, his eyes alive with violent aggression. "A favour? He did me a _favour_? Bringing me to Asgard only to grow up in your shadow; no friends save Catherine, no respect and no chance to be your equal!" Loki snarled vehemently. "No, Thor, I think not that _your _father did me a favour. He saw an opportunity and took it; nothing more and nothing less."

"How can you be so cold?" Thor said in disbelief. "You used to be happy, warm… my brother."

Loki sneered at Thor. "That was before I discovered the truth; my life was a lie."

"Not all of it!" Thor bellowed. "Anyway as you pointed out, you had Catherine. Was she not enough?" he asked. "Not enough to stay for, not enough for love?"

Loki's mouth pursed. "I could never have stayed in Asgard. I'm sure she would have understood."

Thor scoffed. "You really are blind to everyone's feelings for you. It was her love for you that destroyed her; like a poison seeping into her blood. Your actions have cost more than one innocent life back home. If you hadn't left, that baby would never-"

Loki's eyes widened slightly in cold fury. "What? Lived? You're blaming me for my own child's death. You think I would have wanted that to happen!" he snarled. "You know not of what you speak."

Thor shook his head. "You may not have wanted it but you caused it."

"No, you caused it;" Loki snarled. "You and Odin caused my baby's death with all your pestering for Catherine to get rid of it!" He said, the words falling from his mouth before he could take them back. "The Allfather wanted that baby dead; Catherine wouldn't abort my child so he pestered her until she became so stressed the baby died inside her." Loki hissed. "So don't you dare have the gall to blame me for Tyr's death!"

Thor stared in disbelief. "Who told you that father and I didn't want the child?" he asked quietly.

Loki could have kicked himself. He'd just given Catherine away. He tried to think of a way he could take it back but Thor was looking at him suspiciously now. He hoped the slower god wouldn't piece it all together; that was the last thing they needed, a manhunt for Catherine.

Thor advanced closer to the cage. "Who told you that? The only person who could have told you about father's insistence was Catherine herself and she's…" Thor paused as the truth began to dawn on him. He closed his eyes. "She's not dead is she? She's here isn't she?" he whispered. Loki said nothing, his eyes glaring at Thor. Thor straightened up with a growing smile on his face. "Catherine's alive and on Midgard right now," he said out loud.

Loki watched as Thor began to realise something else. "She's already told you everything; that's why you haven't reacted to me telling you," he said. "You're an exceptional liar, brother."

"Oh I think you're picking up a few tricks," Loki scorned. "You were the one trying to pass the blame of Tyr's death to me."

Thor looked up at Loki. "Your actions led to Catherine's stillbirth. I stand by what I said, if you hadn't disappeared then Odin would not have disapproved of the pregnancy quite so much."

Loki laughed sourly. "Oh so it is still my fault. So you find me, tell me my baby's dead and then proceed to blame me for it. Great brotherly actions, Thor."

Thor growled and stared into the cage angrily. "You're the one in the wrong, Loki. Don't try and pin this on me."

"I don't have to. Catherine has already made it clear that you and Odin caused the stillbirth." Loki shrugged. "Therefore I'm holding you responsible for my son's death."

"Did she not tell you how I changed my mind?" Thor said uneasily.

"Oh she told me but as far as I'm concerned you didn't help matters and you didn't exactly talk Odin down did you?" Loki shrugged. "So you both have blood on your hands." He watched as Thor punched the side of the cage in frustration. "There's no use in throwing a hissy fit now, brother." Loki spoke the brother with such a sneer that Thor glared at him. "So, now you know Catherine's alive; what are you going to do?"

Thor began to smirk. "I'll tell you if you tell me where the Tessaract is."

Loki laughed. "Nice try but without the whereabouts of the Tessaract you cannot hope to find Catherine so why should I tell you?"

"So Catherine is with the Tessaract?" Thor questioned.

Loki looked amused. "Maybe, maybe not. I am the God of Lies after all."

XMARVELX

A few hours later, Loki was sat in his cage running fingers through his hair. That had been careless letting Thor know where Catherine was; though he suspected that letting Thor know had been the lesser of some evils. Thor was soft enough to not harm Catherine whereas Loki couldn't be so sure when it came to the others. Speaking of the others, Loki heard the door open again and he looked up to see Captain America enter the room.

"Oh, another visitor? Wonderful," he sneered as he got to his feet and approached the cage door.

"Stop playing games, Loki," said Steve Rogers. "We need to find the Tessaract. You have no idea the trouble it will cause even for you. You think it will help you get your army but it will call out to other races to invade the Earth. You will be at constant war."

Loki laughed. "How little you know, puny human. I can control the Tessaract. I have powers, you humans can only dream of."

Steve shook his head. "Your arrogance is blinding you. You might think you can rule the Earth without any repercussions but you're wrong."

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" Loki asked. "Am I supposed to be intimidated by your fighting talk? Rebel all you want, the Earth will be mine regardless of anything you do."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by your confidence?" Steve retorted. "Your arrogance will bring you down. With you locked up in here, how exactly do you plan to carry out your plans?" He folded his arms. "I'm sure your little buddies could set things up but at the end of the day you're the one who's needed so how exactly are you going to be taking over the world from inside this cage?"

Loki didn't say anything but his smirk widened in the silence that fell between them. He could see it was making Rogers uneasy and it amused him greatly. He just stood there, arms behind his back watching Rogers stare right back at him. It was a silent staring contest and one that Loki knew he would win. Rogers would give up long before he would. He was proved right several minutes later.

Captain America turned around and muttering under his breath, left the room and an amused Loki.

XMARVELX

"So you're the famous, Loki," Tony Stark mused as he entered the room. "How are you liking the cage? It's quite snazzy even though it's not one of my creations."

Loki just gave him a sneer. "What have you come for, Iron Man?" he said darkly. "Are you going to try and threaten me into submission? I assure you, you're wasting your time."

"Oh I know," said Stark. "That's why I'm not wasting my energy on you," he said. "I've decided to focus on your little girlfriend instead. I'm sure if we can get hold of her, she'll be much more useful to us if she thinks something's happened to you," he said with a smirk.

Loki's sneer dropped and an angry look crossed his face. "You stay the hell away from her," he said. "If you so much as touch her, I'll snap your neck."

"How are you going to do that from your cosy little cage?" smirked Stark. "I never said I'd harm her. She might even welcome a real man's advances anyway. I've heard you're a real _Frost Giant _in bed anyway," he chuckled.

Loki's wrists hit the cage as he slammed them again the glass. "Don't push me, Stark. I'll melt your precious armour down whilst you're still wearing it!"

"Oooh, _that's_ a scary thought coming from someone in a _cage_," Stark shrugged.

Loki straightened up and lowered his arms. "You won't find her. You don't even know what she looks like," he said with a smirk. "You can threaten all you like but you will never find her."

Tonk walked up to the cage. "Oh I wouldn't count us out just yet. We know exactly how to get her here," he said with a smile. "Hey maybe we'll bring her along to say hello, keep your spirits up," he grinned. He laughed as Loki launched himself against the cage. "Or you could spare her the hassle and just tell us where the Tessaract is, we'll hand you over to Thor and you can go home," he said.

Loki glared at him. "I'll tell you nothing."

Tony let out a sigh of regret. "Shame. Oh well, plan B it is then. Or rather Plan C for Catherine," he said and turned round, heading out of the room with a loud laugh.

XMARVELX

Loki was in the middle of pacing his cell when he sensed a presence behind him; impressive, he told himself, he hadn't heard her come into the room. He slowly began to turn around. "There's not many people who can sneak up on me," he said to Agent Romanoff who was stood just outside the cage, arms folded and watching him intently.

"But you figured I'd come," she said.

"After," Loki admitted. "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct," he said with amusement. "You'd appear as a friend, a balm and I would cooperate."

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton," said Natasha.

"I'd say I've expanded his mind," Loki replied raising his eyebrows.

Natasha just stared at him. "And once you've won; once you're king of the mountain; what happens to his mind?" she asked.

Loki chuckled. "Is this love Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha scoffed quietly. "Love is for children; I owe him a debt," she said simply.

Loki ignored the annoyance in his brain at her dig about love. She was clearly lying; she loved Barton. He stepped backwards, watching her carefully. "Tell me," he said before sitting down, watching as she did the same across the room.

"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, I, ah, well, I made a name for myself," Natasha began. "I have a very specific skill set; I didn't care who I used it for, or on," she explained. "I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."

"What will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked out of curiosity.

"Not let you out," Natasha bit back.

"Oh, no but I like this," Loki grinned at her. "Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Regimes fall every day," said Natasha. "I tend not to weep over that; I'm Russian. Or at least I was."

"And what are you now?" Loki asked, watching her intently.

Natasha slowly stood up. "It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out." She spoke calmly and simply.

"Can you?" Loki asked. "Can you wipe out that much red? Drakof's daughter? Sao Paolo? The hospital fire?" he said slowly getting to his feet. "Barton told me everything," he explained seeing some surprise on Romanoff's face. "Your ledge is dripping," he said menacingly as he got to his feet and began walking over to her. "It's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything. This is the basest sentimentality; this is a child of prayer, pathetic!" Loki hissed. "You lie and kill, in the services of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code; something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you and they will never go away," he said aggressively. He slammed his wrist against the cage glass and he delighted in the fact that Natasha jumped at the moment. "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you, slowly, intimately in every way he knows you fear and then he'll wake long enough to see his good work and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain you mewling quim!" he snarled.

Natasha turned away from him in horror, sniffling as though she were crying. "You're a monster…"

Loki laughed. "Oh no, you brought the monster."

Natasha looked up and turned around, perfectly fine. "So, Banner, that's your play?"

Loki frowned. "What?"

Natasha turned away, tapping her earpiece as she headed for the exit. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She turned to Loki who had followed her movements in his cage. "Thank you for your cooperation," she said with a slight smirk before leaving the room and an annoyed Loki.

Loki turned back to the seat in his cage and sat down. Dammit that was two strikes, he'd put Catherine on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar and now he'd let slip his intentions. Things were not going well. He'd just have to hope that his plan would still work and even if it didn't he'd be out of this ship soon. He doubted they'd be able to track Catherine either.

XMARVELX

It was late evening when Loki received yet another visitor. He turned to the door and raised his eyebrows when he saw Dr Banner stood there. He got to his feet and approached the door with a smirk. "Well, well, doctor, aren't we brave for stepping into the same room as the prisoner?" he drawled with amusement.

Banner just smiled a little and wandered further into the room. "Oh I could take you on in a second. Or rather, the other guy could. I'm not particularly violent," he said smiling a bit more. "I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about."

Loki watched him intently. "What do you make of me so far?"

"So far, I'm not particularly impressed," Banner shrugged. "You're just a guy with a dictatorship complex to me, with a fancy sphere. Or rather not, seeing as we have it."

Loki smirked. "You're confident for a guy who could transform and put everyone on the ship at risk in seconds."

"Only when I'm stressed," said Banner. "You, small fry, aren't worth the worry."

Loki shook his head. "Now I don't believe that. Did you know I'm the God of Lies too?" he asked.

Dr Banner just smiled pleasantly. "That's nice. Now I know for sure not to trust a word that comes out of your mouth," he said observing Loki. After a moment he looked him up and down before smiling even more. "Perhaps your girlfriend will be more earnest."

Loki's face tightened with rage. "You won't find her."

Banner laughed. "And you talk about making me angry? Thanks for the talk, Loki. I needed a good laugh," he said before heading for the exit. "It was… interesting talking to you."

As Banner too left, Loki was left alone, a feeling of horrible anticipation creeping into his heart.


	27. Well laid traps

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Six_

Catherine was packing her things into a suitcase on her bed. It had been two days since Loki had been captured and she was itching to go and get him out of there. However Barton had insisted that Loki would need time to cause whatever mischief he was planning with S.H.I.E.L.D. Catherine had therefore been spending her time practicing her magic, packing things up in both her and Loki's room and otherwise keeping busy with the move to Stark Tower which would happen soon.

As she folded up the last of her dresses, she finally started to imagine the new world she and Loki would have to rule together. She had never been a power hungry person but now she had the opportunity, the prospect took her breath away. She smiled as she allowed herself to finally believe it could really happen for them. Loki would come back and they would build their future together. She sat on the bed, glancing out the window. What would they do first after it was all over? She looked down at her hands playing with her fingers.

Would they get married? Loki did want her to be his Queen so would that mean they'd get married first? Would it be straight away or would Loki propose and they'd have an engagement and a beautiful ceremony? Images began to flood behind her eyelids as she imagined the possibilities. She'd never thought about a wedding before never mind her own and she'd never dreamed that she could be marrying Loki, her best friend.

She giggled to herself a little as she realised how childish she was being. She was acting like a five year old fantasising about their fairy tale wedding. Admittedly subjugating an entire race to have that wedding wasn't what most people would imagine but Catherine honestly could care less about these humans. Only Loki mattered to her. Loki and Tyr.

Catherine's happy bubble shattered as an image of Tyr, barely walking and talking, wearing a formal outfit, walking alongside her down the aisle. She felt tears prick her eyes as she took it in that this could never come to be. She wiped them away slowly. It had been a little while since she'd thought about Tyr. A part of her immediately felt guilty for it. What kind of mother stopped thinking about her dead child? She felt something inside her twist painfully.

She didn't have a chance to dwell on her feelings as she heard someone rushing upstairs to her floor. Standing up, Catherine wiped at her eyes before making her way into the drawing room just as Barton entered the room. She looked at him quizzically. "Is Loki back?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth, hope in her eyes. She was disappointed when he frowned.

"No but something's going down on that ship," he said and led her downstairs. They took the flights as quickly as they could before arriving in the laboratory. Catherine immediately approached the group by the computers.

"Fill me in," she said.

"We've managed to trace that ship carrying Loki to a huge hovercraft hanging over the sea," one of the scientists said. "We've also been able to track the sceptre too. Twenty minutes ago we hacked into the CCTV and data files on the ship. We're getting a good look at their plans."

"And?" Catherine demanded impatiently. "What's the situation?"

"Their interrogation of Loki is proving fruitless and they can only go so far with legal means of questioning him." Barton said glancing at her. She looked up at him in growing horror.

"Legal means?" she asked weakly. "So what does that mean… they're going to torture him?"

"Almost certainly," one of the scientists said. "They're going to start tonight; they've scheduled it."

Catherine suddenly found that she couldn't breathe. She took shaky breaths, gasping quickly. She covered her mouth as a sudden feeling of nausea hit her. They were going to hurt Loki and even though he was strong enough to withstand it, he'd never tell them anything which meant they would do it again and again.

"We can't let them," she said turning to Barton. "We have to get him out of there. Screw his plan."

Barton placed a hand on his hip. "We have the Tessaract to think of and we might not get there in time," he said. "Loki just might have to endure it-"

"NO!" Catherine roared. "No, I won't let it happen to him." She turned around and began to pace. She needed to think of a way to get there fast and in time to stop them. But Barton was right; they had the Tessaract to think of. She turned to the team and ran her hands through her hair. "We need to think… think…" she said in annoyance.

"We'd need to be going at insane speeds to get to him on time," Barton pointed out.

Catherine froze as an idea finally came to her. "I can go," she said. "I have magic like Loki. I can transport myself to the ship. I can get Loki out of there and then we can come back and move to Stark Tower," she said looking at Barton.

Barton was looking sorely tempted. "That does sound like a good plan but it's risky. Something could go wrong or you could be overpowered."

Catherine bit her lip and looked around. "How soon can you load all the equipment and start transporting it to Stark Tower?" she asked.

"We won't be able to get everything out of here until tomorrow noon at the earliest," one of the scientists said.

Catherine smiled. "Alright, see to it that you do." She walked up to Barton. "I'll go now and try and get him out. If you don't hear anything from me in…" she checked the time. "…12 hours then bring a rescue team, okay?"

Barton grinned. "Will do. Good luck," he said before pausing. He handed her a gun and a dagger. "Take these with you just in case," he said.

She nodded and took them. "If all goes well, Loki and I will find a way to meet you in Stark Tower."

"If all goes well, let us know and if we're nearby we'll come get you," Barton promised.

"Alright but take the Tessaract on another craft in that case," she said. "We can't risk S.H.I.E.L.D getting their hands on it," she instructed. Barton nodded.

Catherine turned to the team. "Can you show me which room Loki's in?" she asked. A few clicks of buttons later and she was looking at a room with a brightly lit green cell containing a prowling figure. Catherine's heart leapt into her chest. It was Loki. She smiled and nodded. "Alright. I know what the room looks like now."

Catherine turned and made her way to the centre of the room. She closed her eyes. This was a dangerous move; she'd never tested the teleportation spell before, she'd only read the theory. There was every chance this could go horribly wrong but if she didn't try, Loki would suffer. She took a deep breath, began the chant and imagined the room with Loki's cell in. She tried not to scream as she disappeared into thin air.

XMARVELX

Stark was approaching the holding room where Loki was residing, dressed in his Iron Man suit with the face uncovered. Besides him was Captain America, equally suited up as they made their way towards the heavy metal doors leading to the chamber.

"The fake torture plans have been embedded into the system yes?" Stark asked his computer Jarvis as they stopped by the clearance monitors and entered their codes.

"Yes sir," the computer responded. "They've been safely stowed to look like ordinary schedules. It does not appear obvious that they were planted."

"Good," said Stark. "Have you been monitoring the ship?" he asked as he stepped aside for Captain America to scan his hand and eye.

"Yes, sir. A hacking attempt succeeded in breaking into the ship's data files, fifteen minutes ago."

Tony began to smirk. "Then they've seen it. No doubt in the next twelve hours they'll come for him. Thank you Jarvis."

The heavy doors opened and the two men walked inside. Captain America glanced at Tony uneasily. "You really think she'll come for him?" he asked quietly. "What if she stays behind?"

"She won't," said Tony. "If she is that important to him then chances are she's probably besotted with him too. He has a very charismatic way of speaking; I know because I have it too," he said bluntly. "But say she doesn't, someone will and we'll get the information out of them." Steve sighed not looking comfortable with this. Tony rolled his eyes. "What do you suggest? We need the Tessaract taken out of their hands."

"Fine but let's not cross too many lines with this," Steve muttered as the door closed behind them announcing their presence. Loki looked up at them quizzically. Steve went to one side of the room and stood in the shadows whilst Stark stood near the door.

"Activate cloaking," he told Jarvis and within seconds he'd vanished.

Loki stood up looking curious. He approached the door and looked for signs of movement. There was no one there. He stepped back and turned to where Rogers was. "What are you doing, humans?" he demanded. "Is this some sort of Avengers hide and seek? Do you really trust me not to give you away?" he sneered.

"You're just jealous because you're in a cage," Tony said snarkily. "Actually you're just jealous full stop." He pointed out.

"What would I be jealous of?" Loki said smirking.

Tony mused. "How about everything?" he said.

Loki was about to respond when there was a light shimmer in the room. He walked towards the cage door curiously. The shimmer turned into a white line of light and out of that line of light fell a figure who landed crouched on the metal grating platform and looked up weakly, the drop having clearly sapped their strength. As the figure's face became visible, Loki's stomach turned and his heart dropped in horror.

It was Catherine.

XMARVELX

Catherine looked up and took in her surroundings before she finally focused on the cell and spotted Loki. Her eyes widened as she took him in. "Loki!" she cried out before immediately going to run towards him but her legs gave way and she fell flat on her chest on the ramp leading up to the cell doors. She winced and picked herself up slowly, using the railings to hold her up. "Loki," she said breathlessly. She placed a hand on the cell glass and then the other, holding herself up. "Loki."

Loki was staring at her in disbelief. For a moment he didn't speak. He just stared at her. Catherine looked at him troubled, praying for him to say something. After a moment he did. "Catherine?" he murmured. His voice grew louder as he placed his hands over where hers were on the other side of the glass. She smiled in relief before seeing the worried look on his face. After all he was facing, he was worried about her?

"What are you doing here?" Loki asked.

Catherine caught her breath. "I'm here to get you out before they can torture you."

Loki looked confused. "Torture me? They haven't tortured me-"

"I know but they will. Barton hacked into their files. I know you won't tell them anything but they won't stop. You need to come with me," she told him. "We can get out of here."

XMARVELX

A horrible sinking feeling came over Loki as he realised now why Iron Man and Captain America were really here. They had been waiting for someone, in the shadows so they wouldn't be seen; like people who were trying to trap something. It wasn't coincidence that Catherine had just happened to appear at the same time which meant that what Catherine was talking about… had been a trap laid by S.H.I.E.L.D and Catherine had walked right into it. Loki closed his eyes in horror.

"Loki?" Catherine looked at him in confusion. "What is it? Have they already started hurting you?"

Loki shook his head. "No. But you've just walked into their trap," he said sadly.

Catherine looked confused. "What?"

Suddenly Iron Man began to dematerialise not far behind Catherine. He stepped forward, his footstep heavy on the metal grating. Catherine turned around quickly, raised a hand to defend herself but Iron Man was faster. He raised his arm and a thick white rope shot out of it, wrapping around Catherine tightly and many times, binding her.

"NO!" Loki roared. "LEAVE HER!" He watched as Catherine struggled against the binding.

Iron Man's face contorted with sympathy. "Er yeah I wouldn't do that, if you fight too much they'll-"

It was too late; an electric shock shot out of the cables and pulsed through Catherine's body shocking her violently. She screamed in pain as the shock pulsed throughout her body.

"CATHERINE!" Loki screamed. He glowered at Iron Man.

"I tried to warn her…" Tony said as Catherine's limp form fell to the floor, twitching and smoking a little. He knelt down next to her. "Life signs are okay."

"Of course they are, she's a goddess you blithering moron!" Loki snarled viciously.

"Then what's the problem?" Tony asked bluntly. "She'll recover." He beckoned Captain America over who was shaking his head. "Don't you start. We'll get her looked over. Keep hold of her and don't let those bindings come loose."

Captain America slowly picked Catherine up in his arms. "Sorry, ma'am," he muttered as he carried her out of the room.

Loki watched as Tony followed them out. Once they were gone, his face contorted with pain.

_What had he done?_


	28. Catherine's Interrogation

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Seven_

Pain radiated all over Catherine's body; her nerves were shot and her skin felt like it was burning. She was semi-conscious; only seeing various shapes and colours as she was carried out of the chamber and down corridors so endless that she lost track of where she was. She lay limp in Captain America's arms as he carried her carefully but quickly. She could hear vague bits of the conversation.

"… sort of conscious…. good sign right?"

"… Fury hears about it…"

"… as long as she's alive…"

"… go and get Banner…"

Catherine let out a wheeze and she felt her vision blurring as she groaned. The voices continued as the pace of the one carrying her picked up.

"… Banner first then interrogation…"

"… she's a goddess, surely they recuperative fast…"

The pain began to peak and Catherine felt darkness take her.

When she next awoke, most of the pain was reduced to a dull ache and her skin no longer felt like it was on fire. She did, however, feel very much drained and her mouth was as dry as sand. She began to stir and moved her hair from side to side. She winced at the stiffness and the sound alerted someone near her. She heard footsteps approach. A dark haired man walked into her line of vision.

"Hello there, Catherine is it?" he asked kindly. "I'm Dr Banner, I'm taking care of you." Catherine blinked in disorientation and looked around her. Dr Banner smiled down at her gently. "You're recovering well considering you've only been out for the count a few hours."

Catherine groaned slightly and managed to prop herself up on her elbows. She was on a soft bed and everything around her was white and silvery-grey. It took a few minutes for her eyes to focus properly. She seemed to be in some kind of infirmary. She looked up at Dr Banner.

"Did you say your name was Dr Banner?" she asked, her voice cracked. "Bruce Banner?"

His face fell. "Ah you've heard of me. No doubt through Loki am I right?"

Catherine nodded. "What's going to happen to me?" she asked.

Dr Banner didn't answer at first and went to pour some water into a paper cup before bringing it over to her. "Drink this," he said. "Your throat has dried up." Catherine took it carefully, making sure to balance on her elbow. She began to drink slowly. The water felt good against her throat and she soon finished it, holding the cup back up to Dr Banner. He took it back and refilled it before returning it to her. She began drinking it again. "Take it easy," he said and she slowed down a bit.

Once she'd had enough water, she put the cup down and looked up at Banner. "I broke into your ship; what's going to happen to me?" she demanded. "Why did you set a trap for me? Is it true you're planning on torturing Loki?" she asked hastily.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dr Banner held up his hands. "Firstly, I had nothing to do with the trap. That'll be explained to you later during interrogation. Secondly, I have no idea of any plans to torture Loki. My priority is making sure you're well enough for interrogation." Catherine sighed at his words as she leant back against the pillows.

She felt him examining her and she let him, her thoughts wandering to Loki.

XMARVELX

Loki was slumped against the glass of the cage, sat on the floor, a hand running through his hair as he cursed his own idiocy. How could he have let Catherine get involved? Why had he dropped her in it and caused S.H.I.E.L.D to target her? The only reason she had come for him was to save him getting hurt and instead she was the one who'd been viciously hurt by that electric wire.

Burning hatred spread through him as he thought of how much pain she'd been in because of that Iron Bastard's malicious rope.

Part of Loki wondered if it would have been better to just have evaded capture at all. Everything was starting to go to hell and he had get Catherine out of here before she ended up in worse trouble.

XMARVELX

Banner finished his examination. "As long as you take it easy, I don't see why they shouldn't interrogate you," he said quietly. "I'll arrange a room for you for after you're done," he told her.

"No," Catherine said. "I'm not a guest. If Loki is a prisoner here then so am I. I want to be put in his cell," she said. "If your colleagues want to give me more freedom of will then I want to share his cell…" she told him simply.

Banner looked exasperated. "I doubt they'd let you," he said. "But you'd have to ask. If you cooperate, they might."

Catherine sneered. "I won't be telling you guys anything. I'm not easily broken."

Dr Banner turned to his computer quietly. "You'd be surprised."

XMARVELX

Thor entered the holding room where Loki's cell was in and spotted his brother who jumped to his feet immediately. Thor felt a pang of sympathy for Loki; he was obviously worried about Catherine. Thor couldn't blame him. He'd given Tony a rollicking for using the electric rope like that on her. Fortunately Dr Banner had assured them that Catherine would recover and, despite everything Loki had done, Thor figured he'd probably want to know that. He approached the cell quietly.

"I hope you're proud to be on their team," Loki snarled. "Capturing and causing pain to one of our own like that," he spat. "Does it make you feel good working with people like that?"

"They went too far," said Thor. "I made sure they knew it. Anyway I have word on Lady Catherine. Dr Banner assures me that she will recover."

Loki's eyes widened darkly. "_That creature is in charge of Catherine's recovery!_" he growled. "Is that meant to be a joke?"

"Dr Banner is very capable-" Thor began.

"Dr Banner is very capable of only being a monster," Loki spat viciously. "You would let him heal her despite acting as though you care about her?"

"It's not an act!" Thor roared. "I do! She is like a dear sister."

Loki scoffed. "Yet you leave her in the hands of a monster. If you were any sort of brother; you'd get her out of his clutches."

"If you were any sort of brother, you wouldn't be trying to conquer the world I love," said Thor. "You wouldn't be trying to cause your family pain. Maybe this is justice; seeing Catherine in pain."

Loki growled and slammed his hand against the cage glass. "You are the one who started all this with your arrogance and pride! You, who were always the favourite son. If I take this world, it is only because you cast me out of what was rightly mine."

Thor stomped up against the glass. "Asgard belongs to Odin, not you nor I! Get that through your head!" he yelled. "I gave you the chance to come home; you elected not to. You brought this on yourself!" he thundered.

The sound of the heavy door opening silenced both men and they looked round. Natasha Romanoff had entered the room.

"We're about to interrogate Catherine," she told Thor. "I'm going to put a video feed up in here so Loki can watch; Fury's orders."

Loki glared at her. "You're all getting a kick out of this aren't you? Are you going to use your mind games on her too?" he demanded.

Natasha smiled. "Only if we need to."

She began to set up the video feed and the screen jumped to life. It showed a large room with a rounded table. One chair stood on one side, a chair with metal cuffs around the arms and legs ready to bind the occupant to it. Four chairs faced it on the other side. The room was well lit and Fury was already sat in one of the group of chairs. Stark was sat in another one. Once Natasha was sure of the video feed's quality, she turned and exited the room leaving Thor and Loki to watch.

XMARVELX

Loki watched on the screen as Dr Banner entered the interrogation room, helping a limping Catherine along, guiding her to the interrogation chair. He helped her sit down before strapping her wrists and ankles to the chair. He then moved across to the other side of the room and took a seat next to Stark. A few minutes passed in silence. Catherine was watching them cautiously from across the room. No one spoke. The door opened and Natasha walked into the room, taking a seat on the other side of Fury. Now that they were all present, Fury leant forward.

"You are Catherine of Asgard yes?"

"Yes," Catherine said quietly. Loki watched her, hiding his despair. He could see plain as day that she was still recovering from the effects of the electrocution even if Asgardians did heal faster than humans. She was weaker and S.H.I.E.L.D were praying on that by interviewing her now instead of when she'd be strong enough to lie better. For a moment Loki had a horrible sense that Catherine might say something about their plans.

"You're Loki's girlfriend, correct?" Natasha asked.

"I'm his soul-mate, yes," Catherine said ignoring the Midgardian term of romantic partner. Loki couldn't help feeling a touch of pride at that.

"You're aware of his plans for this planet?" Fury questioned.

"Yes I am," Catherine said resolutely.

"Would you consider telling us them? For the sake of the planet?" Fury asked.

Catherine smirked. "Not in a million lifetimes," she said.

Loki smirked at her answer. However he had a feeling that S.H.I.E.L.D were just getting warmed up when it came to interrogating her. He noticed that Natasha smiled at Catherine and it was a cold, calculating smile, one that immediately put Loki on edge. What was she going to ask Catherine?

"You claim to love Loki-" she began.

"I do love Loki," Catherine said simply but coolly.

"I'm not so sure that you do," said Natasha. "What he's doing is wrong and will get him into even more trouble than he already is in. If you loved him, you'd stop him and spare him worse punishment."

Catherine sneered at Natasha. "I can already tell you know nothing about love." She told the agent with a bitter tone. "You've clearly never been in my position. What Loki is doing might seem wrong to you but it's all about perspective," she said. "Your people constantly war with each other, mutilate each other and generally thrive on chaos and trauma. Loki wants to put an end to that but you're too set in your ways to realise."

"Loki's intentions are not that noble," Fury scoffed. "He's just very good at dressing it up."

"I'm not some naïve admirer," said Catherine. "I know the catastrophic death toll that will come with this battle. This planet is already overpopulated. Loki would be doing you a favour," she said. "One battle to end all battles. Back home we have one ruler and everyone is happy with that; we don't have your strife and your chaos. To be honest, I think you need one ruler and it clearly can't be any of you; you're too prone to destroying each other."

Loki listened to Catherine's speech proudly. She really did get his perspective and his purpose. A strong bubble of affection and love rose up inside him. She really was incredible, his Catherine, and he was almost glad that she was here with him so he could hear this. However he soon changed his tune when she saw her suck in a breath covering up a wince. She was in pain though because of him.

"Whatever you might say about me being in love or not; loving someone means letting them go, doing what's best for them," said Natasha. "Are you doing what's best for Loki?"

Catherine chuckled. "Yes. He has a purpose and an honourable one at that. He's trying to do you a favour and I'm supporting him."

"So you definitely wouldn't consider telling us where the Tessaract is," Fury pressed.

Catherine grinned. "No, I wouldn't. It's far away by now and in safe hands."

"Unless those hands are S.H.I.E.L.D hands, I doubt they're safe." Fury countered.

Catherine chuckled. "I never said it was safe for you."

Loki laughed out loud at Catherine's gall. He didn't think he'd ever been more attracted to her than he was right now. Her courage and confidence in the face of S.H.I.E.L.D was very appealing to him. He continued watching with curiosity. Catherine seemed to be wincing less and breathing easier. Either that or the adrenaline of the interrogation was overriding everything.

"Tell us what we want to know or you'll find that you're going to be stuck here for a long time," Fury said darkly. "I'm sure you don't want that."

"Stuck here as opposed to what?" Catherine said.

"We'll let you go," said Fury. "You're not the troublemaker. You're just the deluded girlfriend of the troublemaker. You're not a threat."

Catherine's eyes flashed with rage. "Oh really?" she said, her fingers curling into fists. Unfortunately her feet and wrists were secured by the chair. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. I have-"

"-magic, yes, we noticed," Stark said. "Thank you for showing us that particular party trick by the way, it was very considerate of you, really."

"I'm sure you're powerful in your own way," said Natasha. "But we're not interested in dealing with you longer than necessary. If you cooperate with us, we'll use the Tessaract to send you home."

Catherine stared icily at the group. "I'm not going home. I'm staying with Loki."

"This plan of his is not going to succeed, Catherine," said Fury. "Loki will be stopped and when he does, Thor will arrest him and take him home for Asgardian justice. You won't get any time left with him either way. Why not spare yourself the pain?"

Catherine sneered at Fury. "Because you're wrong. Loki will not fail."

Loki smiled warmly at her sentiment before returning to a mask of annoyance before Thor saw.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You're so lovesick, it's unbelievable."

Catherine shook her head. "Just like your ice queen act. Pretending to be tough doesn't suit you. What does seem to suit you just fine is sitting like you're closed off from the world and standing above everyone else when you're really just a scared little girl," she spat at Natasha. "You say you know nothing of love; we know how close you and Barton are; _very_ good friends in fact." She smiled charismatically at Natasha. "I know that look upon your face. I used to feel the same thing when I tried to deny my feelings for Loki. You don't want to screw up a friendship but your heart says differently. You speak like love is something to be ashamed of, Agent Romanoff," she said. "I see it as something to fight for."

"Literally?" Stark asked dubiously. Catherine nodded firmly.

"We're getting off topic here," growled Fury. "You have no intention of telling us where the Tessaract is or Loki's plans in detail. Or the whereabouts of our missing Agent Barton for that matter?" he said seriously.

Catherine leant forward. "Oh I'll tell you where Barton is," she said smiling.

"Where is he?" Natasha asked before she thought to stop herself.

Catherine smirked. "With the Tessaract."

Natasha was on her feet in seconds. "You think this is funny?"

Catherine chuckled. "Yeah a little bit."

"She's a wind up merchant like Loki; cool it down, Agent Romanoff," said Fury. He turned back to Catherine. "The rest of it, you won't tell us?"

"I'll tell you over my dead body," Catherine said icily.

Stark chuckled. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Loki smacked his fist against the cage. "If he so much as touches one hair on her head…"

Thor looked at his brother. "You'll do what, rattle your cage?"

Loki chose to ignore that remark.

Meanwhile Fury was getting to his feet and making his way over to Catherine's chair. "How did you come to Earth? You weren't there when Loki appeared, I was there, I should know."

Catherine watched him like a hawk. "I came through to the planet later."

"How?" Fury demanded.

"None of your business," Catherine retorted sharply.

Fury slammed his hands on the table making Catherine jump slightly. "When it involves Loki or the Tessaract, _I make it my business!_"Fury's voice rose to a yell as he towered over Catherine's chair. "Answer the damn question, Asgardian!"

Catherine looked a little nervous now but she shook her head. "No."

"You're just making it harder on yourself," said Stark with a sigh.

Catherine looked up at Fury. "I've answered a few of your questions; now you answer one of mine. Did you ever intend to torture Loki?" she asked. "That's how you lured me here; how much truth was there in those faked files?"

Fury smirked a little. "None but the opportunity is always on the table."

Thor's fists clenched as he stood outside the cage but next to Loki. Loki watched him with interest. Was the big oaf still being protective? He wondered how much of this scheme, Thor actually knew about or if they had left him out knowing how little he'd agree with it.

Catherine stared up at Fury obstinately. "Well even if you did; you'd get no answers out of either of us," she said.

Fury looked down at her. "I can't decide if that's an invitation or a challenge; because if you keep playing this game, I might just take you up on your offer. We can see how well you Asgardians hold up under such… questioning."

Loki growled under his throat. If they so much as touched Catherine in any way he'd rip them apart. He saw Thor turn and look at him sympathetically.

"I won't let them torture Catherine. It is against her rights. But she really needs to think about telling us what we need to know or Fury might well make her life a hell." Thor told Loki. "Or you could spare her all this and tell us yourself."

Loki frowned; caught in a tap, he didn't know what to do. He'd been willing to sacrifice his plans for Catherine before and he'd do it again but surely there was another way.

Catherine was looking up at Fury, holding a straight expression on her face. "I won't be telling you anything else," she said simply.

"So, you're saying there's no point in continuing this line of investigation because you won't cooperate?" Fury asked.

Catherine shrugged. "You can try; I'd like to find out how much your clever brains have managed to work out," she said.

Natasha stood up and moved over to Catherine's chair. "We know Loki's gathering materials to open a portal and let the Chitauri come through. That's why he needed the iridium from Germany and it's why he needs the Tessaract. He's going to create another portal. What we don't know is where the Tessaract is or where the location of the portal is going to be."

Catherine shrugged and winced a little bit at the moment. "Clever but you haven't quite got all pieces of the puzzle have you? Too bad for you-" she began but her head rocked to the side hard as Natasha's hand collided with her cheek. The pain stung her face and she winced in pain, her hands unable to try and soothe the sore spot.

Fury had grabbed hold of Natasha and pulled her back. "No, Agent Romanoff! Now is not the time or the place for that kind of behaviour!"

Loki was glowering at the screen. If he could only get his hands on Natasha Romanoff for striking Catherine like that; when she was already still in some pain.

Fury turned back to Catherine who was slowly turning back to face him. "What Agent Romanoff did was uncalled for," he began. "But it was not undeserved. You have one last chance. We can do this the civilised way or the… ah… uncivilised way."

Catherine looked up at him tensely. "You mean torture me then?"

"I prefer to think of it as… painful encouragement," said Fury. "_Very _painful encouragement."


	29. Unimaginable Pain

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Eight_

**Rated M for slightly disturbing/uncomfortable scenes just to be safe**

"Alright then," Fury said backing away from Catherine. "Dr Banner, will you please escort the prisoner to the second floor. The room should be already set up. We've never had use of it before," Fury said with a pointed look at Catherine. "We've never needed to."

Catherine was looking at him, the strain of the false bravado, lurking beneath the surface of her smirk. She kept her thoughts on Loki; this was for Loki, all for Loki and not allowed her thoughts to drift to what was possibly going to happen to her now. A small part of her screamed at herself for being so stupid and falling for this ridiculous trap of theirs.

Dr Banner looked taken aback by the request. "Oh no, I'm not participating in this if you're going to torture her."

Fury turned to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, will you do the honours?"

Natasha nodded without hesitation. "Of course," she said and marched over to Catherine, unlocking the bonds and dragging her to her feet. "Come this way," she told the Asgardian female with relish.

Dr Banner looked at Fury. "Surely you can't be serious? This is a violation of-"

"-human rights, Dr Banner?" Fury questioned with his eyebrows raised. "Catherine is not human. Our courtesy does not extend to her and we are running out of time."

XMARVELX

Loki looked horrified as Catherine was dragged out of the room. Thor was already out the door before Loki realised he was gone. He began to pace his cell. They were going to hurt her; they were going to hurt his Catherine and he couldn't stop them. He was powerless. He kicked against the glass violently, his hands raking through his hair. His chest shook with the uncontrollable rage that was building up inside him. He'd kill them; he'd kill them for what they were going to do to her.

He moved throughout his cage with a catlike grace. Was he going to have to confess? Could he even still do that, there was no one around to hear him and no guarantee that anything he did shout would be noticed by anyone on the ship. It could already be too late for Catherine.

He brought his hands to his face, looking utterly distraught. What if they did such terrible things to her that she couldn't cope? Would she crack? No, thought Loki. It doesn't matter if she cracks or not as long as she lives. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he ever lost Catherine.

A sobering thought occurred to him. What were the chances of humans having the technology to kill an Asgardian? What were the chances of them doing any serious damage to her? Okay that was more likely since they could find horrific ways of giving her pain.

Another thought crashed into Loki's mind. Who was to say they were going to torture her at all? He recalled what Natasha Romanoff said about mind games? Maybe the mind games were for him after all. Maybe Catherine would be okay but they wanted him to think they were torturing her? He lowered his hands thoughtfully. That sounded good but how could they cover up the fact that they'd done nothing unless they'd just keep her from him and let him believe the worst. He rubbed his head in stress. He couldn't be sure what they would do. He could only hope Thor would put a stop to it immediately. He looked up at the screen as the scene changed to a separate room.

XMARVELX

The room was small with a thin table slab in the centre. Black metal straps hung off the sides and there were cameras around the room. Catherine was led forward by Natasha until she reached the slab. She turned and glared at the spy who just gestured with her head for her to lie down. After a moment's hesitation, Catherine sat on the slab and lay down. She felt Natasha begin attaching the metal straps so that they pressed Catherine's body to the table tightly. No doubt so that struggling would not do her any good, Catherine mused.

Fury entered the room behind Natasha. It was immediately clear that only he and Natasha had the stomach for this particular exercise though Catherine thought she glimpsed Stark standing outside.

Natasha left the room briefly before returning with a trolley full of sharp utensils and syringes contained different coloured liquids. There were jars of the stuff on the lower shelf. Catherine tried hard not to think of what was in that stuff.

Fury turned back to Catherine. "Last chance, tell us everything you know involving Loki and the Tessaract and we'll stop this now. We don't want to do this."

"I doubt that," said Catherine shooting Natasha a death glare. "My answer is still no."

Fury shrugged. "Fine. No one can say we didn't give you a few chances."

He nodded to Natasha who reached across to the trolley and picked up a syringe filled with a blue liquid. She gripped Catherine's arm firmly and began to inject the solution into the Asgardian's body. At first nothing happened. Catherine's eyebrows widened with curiosity before they lowered in boredom. Maybe her Asgardian body was too strong for this. How wrong she was. She watched Natasha remove the syringe.

A searing hot pain shot through her body almost instantly, increasing in heat and intensity in seconds. Catherine let out a scream of pain as the agony coursed through her. Her body felt like it was burning up from the inside as the solution seared its way through her nerves. The intensity was constantly increasing, the pain flowing in fast waves again and again. She screamed again as the pain took hold of her. Her hands reached for the slab, holding on tight as the agony continued. She felt her body being scorched from the inside out. She could feel her flesh beginning to burn now and looked down at her arms. They were beginning to redden.

Fury leaned over her. "You came through to Earth; how did you manage that? How did Loki find you?" he asked intently.

Catherine barely heard him through her cries of pain. She looked up at him wide eyed, fighting the urge to scream abuse at him. Instead she kept her mouth shut, refusing to say anything. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she fought the continuous urge to scream.

XMARVELX

Loki watched on in utter horror as Catherine's body was tortured over and over by the serum repeating itself in her body. That was just one syringe full; what if they did more to her? His heart ached to see her in pain and yet he didn't know what he could do for her. He could only watch her face contort with agony as she tried to fight the urge to speak. As much as he ached for her, he couldn't have been prouder of her stamina as she didn't answer Fury's question.

He watched as a few minutes passed and her body began to shake less as the pain seemed to be easing off. Catherine's breathing was becoming normal again. He saw Fury lean over her again.

"Unless you want another taste of that, I suggest you answer our questions," he said. "How did you come to Earth?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" Catherine gasped.

"Yes it does. Did Loki use the Tessaract?" Fury asked.

Catherine managed a defiant smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Fury looked up at Natasha and nodded. "Give her a stronger dose."

Natasha then injected Catherine with a light green serum this time. Catherine started screaming almost instantaneously as soon as the needle entered her skin. Natasha had to hold Catherine's arm down to finish administering the dose. Loki brought a hand to his mouth, struggling to watch as his beloved was tortured again.

This was all his fault, he told himself. His revenge plan with Earth had set Catherine up for this. It was his fault that she was in such agony now. His breathing became shallower as he tried to keep himself together. He brought his hands together and pressed his lips against the sides of his fingers. He couldn't do anything for her but watch. He deserved to watch this; it was his punishment for bringing her into this plan.

XMARVELX

The second dose was even more powerful than the first. It coursed through her veins, scorching them a second time whilst the first dose still ran through them. Catherine's screams were louder, more animalistic and full of the agony that was being introduced to her body. Her back arched her body off the slab though it couldn't move too much.

"Did Loki bring you here with the Tessaract?" Fury demanded angrily.

Catherine looked up at him with agony filled eyes before screaming again. She was spared answering when the door opened and Thor stormed in.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_" he thundered. "You cannot treat a citizen of Asgard like that! Stop the treatment now and leave her alone!"

"Oh we'll leave her alone," Fury said standing up to him. "When she answers a few questions."

"She's in agony!" roared Thor. "She'll be lucky if she can remember her own name! Cease this treatment now whilst I am still forgiving…" he growled.

Fury shook his head. "Mr Stark, please escort Thor outside. He's too personally involved." He watched as Thor struggled hard when Stark dragged him from the room, very forcibly and with some difficulty. Fury turned back to Catherine who was still screaming, whimpering and gasping with the pain. He watched over her. "Catherine, just answer that one question. Did Loki bring you through with the Tessaract?"

Catherine gasped through the pain. It was so much worse than she'd imagined but she knew she couldn't give Loki away. She was almost driven mad with the pain but she couldn't. She had to hold onto her love for Loki. She gripped the slab powerfully. She looked up at Fury taking deep breaths. It was taking longer for this pain to deteriorate. She could feel the first serum's effects leaving her system. She could only feel the new serum's effects now. Admittedly they were starting to lessen a little. She was grateful for that but had a feeling that she would soon be in even more pain.

"Just tell us!" Fury barked.

It took all of Catherine's willpower not to give into the pain and spill. She shook her head, tears coursing down her face as she mouthed the word, no.

XMARVELX

Loki stared at Catherine in disbelief. She was holding up so well that it broke his heart. He almost wanted her to spill, to talk, just so she wouldn't be in any more pain but the more stubborn part of him said that she was strong enough to cope. He hated that part of himself but it was strong.

He watched in despair as Fury ordered Natasha to inject Catherine with a black liquid. This one didn't seem to have searing pain instantly as Catherine was still recovering from the other serum and not showing any sign of extra pain. She was looking tired, bewildered and weak.

Loki's nails dug harder into his skin as his fists tightened. Those bastards; what were they going to put her through now?

XMARVELX

As the last of the second serum vanished, Catherine breathed a sigh of relief, until she looked down and started seeing blue patches appearing on her skin in blotches. Those blotches became purple quickly before turning to a menacing black. She looked up at the Russian spy in shock.

"We've induced poison into your system. You really should be writhing in pain right now but your nerves are probably in a bit of a state from the last two doses. The spots are evidence of the poison bruising your skin from the inside. It bruises your flesh too so you can expect to be feeling quite sore soon," Natasha said with a shrug.

Fury looked over Catherine. "We're not going to stop pumping you with these drugs until you tell us," he said quietly. "It'll be easier on you if you just speak up."

XMARVELX

Loki looked towards the door as Thor stormed in, pushed by Iron Man. Thor whirled round on Stark but the billionaire had already locked the door, sealing them in. Loki approached the cage, rage radiating from his posture as he glowered at the man in the Iron suit and his adoptive brother.

"How could you do that to her?" Thor demanded. "She has done nothing to you."

"I'm not exactly thrilled about torturing people," Stark said bluntly. "I've been there before. But Fury has a point. We need that information. Loki hasn't told us. If he truly loved her, he'd spare her the pain. She's protecting him and he's doing nothing to save her."

"SHUT UP!" Loki screamed from the cage. "You speak of being good; for protecting people but you are just as monstrous as me, torturing someone in that way."

Thor turned to Stark. "Loki is right. You cannot speak of justice and do that to her."

"You speak as though we enjoy doing this," said Stark. "It's alright for you once all this is over, you can go home. We have a planet to protect and we have to do everything to stop it. We can treat Catherine if she gives us information. We can try and make it up to her but we can never make it up to the planet and its people if _he _wins." Stark explained, pointing at Loki.

"Always looking at the bigger picture," sneered Loki.

Stark moved past Thor and approached the cage. "She's _your _girlfriend. Though you seem to be looking at the big picture rather than favouring her welfare. I doubt you'll win any boyfriend of the year awards."

Loki pressed himself up against the glass menacingly. "When I get out of here… and I will get out of here. I will rip you all to pieces, slowly, so that you can feel everything Catherine did when you pumped those drugs into her."

Tony laughed coldly. "If you "love" her so much then why don't you save her? Put an end to her suffering. Save her from this pain and confess."

Loki looked tempted. Stark grinned and began to speak in his speaker. "Fury, hold any more serums. Loki might be about to break his silence."

Loki looked up on the screen as Fury turned to the camera. "Well?" he asked. Loki's eyes flickered to Catherine as she lay there, now blackened with bruises.

"Don't…" Catherine's voice sounded small. "Don't you dare, Loki. I can take the pain. Don't tell them anything… please… or this will have been for nothing. Don't you dare make this pain nothing."

Loki's throat tightened. He could save Catherine some pain but reduce her suffering to nothing or let her remain in pain but honour her wishes.

"She's just being a martyr," said Stark to Loki. "Don't listen to her. Tell us what we want to know."

Loki looked up at Catherine again, his eyes met hers and he took a breath.

"Go to hell," he said to Fury.

The sounds of Catherine's screams as a violent red serum was injected into her system would haunt him for the rest of the evening as he closed his eyes to block it out. When he did open his eyes, he saw that Stark looked disgusted with him.

"You bastard," Stark said simply.


	30. Hurting and Comfort

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Twenty Nine_

The torture session stopped two hours later.

Catherine was barely conscious, lying slumped and bruised on the slab. Two small incisions had been made down her arms, not deep but enough to contribute to the pain.

Dr Banner was brought in and was checking her over, anger coursing through him as he did so. He was obviously fighting the urge to yell, lash out, anything that would bring out the Hulk. He glared up at Fury and Natasha as he checked Catherine's vital signs.

"She's breathing, just about and your toxins haven't done any permanent damage to her body. All in all, you should be proud," he spat, "it's basically superficial but powerful damage to the skin and tissue layers." He looked at the cuts which had long since stopped bleeding. "Where they really necessary? In fact was any of this?" he demanded in annoyance.

Fury and Natasha exchanged looks. "The cuts were probably too far. In fact we're not proud of any of it," Fury insisted.

"Did she tell you anything?" Dr Banner asked coldly.

"Not a word," said Natasha regretfully.

"Then I can only assume you're going to try again tomorrow," Banner said snidely.

"No," said Fury. "She resisted well over torture. Another attempt isn't likely to make much difference. We're just going to have to find another way."

Banner looked a little relieved. "Yes, I think that's best. Now I'm going to take her to the lab and heal her as best as I can."

"No…" Catherine muttered. "Loki…. Want…. Loki…"

Banner frowned. "Ah yes, she did say she would rather stay in Loki's cell instead of having a room of her own."

Fury frowned. "Out of the question."

"Is it really?" Banner asked defiantly. "After all you've done to her? Surely a choice of room is the least she deserves? Besides it's not like he's going to harm her is it?"

"Yes but he might escape," said Fury.

"Not if we have Stark and Thor supervise the transition." Natasha said. "It might make Loki think twice about keeping quiet if he sees how much pain Catherine's been in, up close. He'll have to face the consequences of his decision. If Banner can fix Catherine up here then we can take her to the cell," Natasha explained.

Fury looked between them. "I'm not a fan of the idea but I suppose it couldn't hurt to test that theory," he said reluctantly. "Doctor, is there anything you need from the lab?" he asked.

"No, I have my basics here with me," Banner said as he continued examining Catherine.

XMARVELX

Loki was pacing the cell. The video feed had been turned off after Catherine's last torture had been performed. He had no idea what was going to happen to her now and he hated the uncertainty. He was so full of guilt that he was unable to speak. Thor and Stark had left arguing about the moralities of torture. Loki suspected Stark was going to get his ear chewed off by Thor and for once, he was on his brother's side about it. Loki hoped Thor went on about it all night just to be a pain. The heavy door swung open, Loki looked up and hurried to the doorway instantly. Stark came through first holding the door open as Thor and Dr Banner came in, Catherine hanging limply between them, an arm around each of them. She looked awful, pale, bruises and completely defeated, not to mention semi-conscious. They brought her to the cage where Stark followed them.

"For some inexplicable reason, she wants to be in here with you," said Stark coldly. "I still think Fury's mad for authorizing this."

"It's the least he can do after what he's done," said Thor. "My brother will not harm the woman he loves," he said. He turned to Loki. "Stand back and do not try and escape."

Stark was still in his Iron Man suit and he smirked at Loki. "We all know how well it'll end for him if he tries." He grinned as Loki reluctantly stepped back as Stark opened the door. Dr Banner and Thor stepped sideways into the cell, gently laying Catherine down on the floor before exiting the cell. Banner turned around as the cell was relocked.

"I've given her as many painkillers as I deemed safe," he said. "I'm not sure how well they'll work on your people but it's what I could do," he said. He turned to the others. "Let's go, I think we've done enough for one day."

"Who's we?" asked Thor as they headed for the exit. "I did nothing but protest and you did nothing but try and help the lady. The ones to blame are-"

"Oh let's not start that again," grumbled Stark as they exited the room.

XMARVELX

Catherine felt the cold floor cool against her still faintly burning skin. She groaned as she tried to move. Her whole body ached in worse ways than she'd ever felt before. Her mind was fuzzy but slowly recovering. She could hear footsteps approaching her and she raised her head painfully. As she looked up she saw that Loki was knelt next to her, his hand on her side, his worried face peering into hers. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him again. "Loki…" she murmured. "You're alright…" she said smiling a little as her vision faded from her.

She blinked awake fairly quickly less than a minute later. She was still on the floor but she was hurting a little less than before. Looking up, she realised Loki was trying to use some of his magic to heal her. His hand was on hers, channelling his power into her.

"Loki…" she murmured again.

Loki was looking at her with such guilt and distress in his eyes that she couldn't help but reach out to him. She managed to lift her other hand to his face and as she stroked a cheek, she caught a tear that slipped from his eyes. She blinked in shock. Loki was actually crying? "Loki…" she said quietly.

"I am so sorry, Catherine," Loki said as he moved his hand away from hers and lowered her hand from his face. "I should never have let them get to that stage. I should have spoken up before."

"I'm glad you didn't; I'm glad you did as I asked," Catherine murmured.

"But you're so hurt. I saw the pain they inflicted on you… your screams Catherine. They'll stay with me forever." Loki said brokenly.

"It was worth it, to protect you," said Catherine. "I love you."

Loki felt a few more tears slide down his face. He shifted so he was sitting on the floor, his legs to the side and he reached forward, gently tugging Catherine until she lay with her head and shoulders in his lap. He stroked her hair and leant down to kiss her head tenderly. "I love you too," Loki whispered. "More than I can ever say now, now I've seen how much you'd suffer for me."

Catherine smiled a little. "It's over now. They're not going to hurt me anymore."

"Damn right they won't," said Loki protectively. "You're staying with me. I promise you that."

Catherine sighed in relief, relaxing against his thigh. She winced in pain as faint echoes of the torture racked her body occasionally. Loki's hand stroking her hair was helping though. She closed her eyes in ease, enjoying the breaks between the aches. Her breathing was shallower than it should be but she was just happy to be back in Loki's arms.

XMARVELX

Having Catherine here with him, broken as she was, was mental torture for Loki. He was so happy to have her here where she was safer but he also had the constant reminder of what he had _allowed _to happen to her. He didn't understand how she could be so forgiving of him. He let his fingers stroke through her hair gently; it was therapeutic. She was just lying there so calmly and it began to hit him that she really was too weak to move much. He let his other hand find one of hers and squeezed it.

Catherine looked up at him with a sad smile but Loki didn't see how she could smile at all after what she had just been through. He stroked the back of her hand quietly and curled his fingers in her hair.

"Loki, can you help me sit up?" Catherine asked weakly. Loki looked down at her and nodded, pulling her gently into a sitting position from under her arms and settling her in his lap so her head rested against his shoulder and she was sat in his lap properly. He wrapped his arms around her securely. He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes in pain as Catherine whispered, "Thank you".

He felt his eyes water again. "Catherine," he murmured. "Why are you not mad at me?" he whispered these words into her hair, kissing it softly afterwards.

"I'm not mad because we have a plan to do and… it was worth it because they let stay in the cell with you," Catherine whispered back smiling. "And," she added in a low whisper. "This time tomorrow, we'll be free. I told Barton to come get us if they didn't hear from us in 12 hours."

Loki's eyes widened. Catherine had given them a back up plan. They could be free of S.H.I.E.L.D tomorrow. Admittedly he hadn't caused as much mayhem as he would have liked but his priority was now getting Catherine out of here. He had noted more fallouts between Thor and Stark though and Banner hadn't seemed so impressed with S.H.I.E.L.D's antics either. Loki had observed Thor's interruption of the torture session. Surely they were enough cracks to dismantle the unity. Loki hoped so anyway though they did have until the morning to try and make things worse.

"You're brilliant," Loki said kissing her hair and then her cheek. "You're wonderful and brilliant, Catherine. I was so afraid that you'd just-"

"-rushed in without a plan B?" Catherine smiled tiredly. "I'm picking up some of your tricks," she said quietly. Loki chuckled and kissed her cheek again. She moved her cheek against his lips again, liking the kissing. Loki smiled softly and kissed her cheek over and over again lovingly. "By the way," Catherine said between the kisses. "what was your plan?" she asked.

"Cause as much trouble amongst these Avengers as possible," smirked Loki. "Buy us some time."

"Well, our precious cargo will be on its way to the destination by noon tomorrow, I should think." Catherine whispered. "I told Barton to come in a separate vehicle if he was coming for us."

Loki grinned. "Clever girl…" he kissed just beside her ear and Catherine shifted a little in ticklish response. He gently kissed her there again and she winced at the moment. Loki's eyes widened. "Sorry," he said. He gently stroked the side of her neck. "Does it hurt everywhere?"

"Yeah, a little, it comes and goes," she said quietly. She turned a little in his arms so she was able to look at him. She leant her head on his shoulder. He lightly caressed her hip as his arms snuggled around her. He watched her as she fought to catch her breath. Even small movements left her breathless. He reached up and touched her face with his hand, sending more magic into her. Catherine watched as the cuts on her arms faded away. "That feels better," she told Loki.

They sat there for a while in comfortable silence before Catherine leant her head further into his shoulder and gently nuzzled his neck as though seeking comfort. Loki kissed her what part of her forehead he could reach and gently rubbed her back whilst his other hand rested on her arm. Her breathing was rather wheezy now but she seemed to be in less pain.

XMARVELX

Catherine slowly looked up at Loki and brought a hand to his face gently. "This time tomorrow, we'll be free again… together and we can finally teach them a lesson." She smiled as he moved his hand from her arm to cover hers on his face. He was smiling back at her.

"You said _we_" he said softly.

"Pardon?" she asked in confusion.

"You said _we _instead of just talking about me." He stroked her hand. "You really believe in the plan?"

Catherine smiled. "I believe in us," she murmured. "I always will." She leant up and pressed her lips softly against his. Her eyes closed as did his and they kissed tenderly. She pulled back with a sharp yelp of pain and Loki's arms were around her gently again.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Ouch… just stretching…" Catherine murmured.

"I think you need to lie down," said Loki and carefully he scooped up Catherine in his arms and got to his feet himself. He made his way over to the bench and prepared to lay her down.

"Lie with me? I like you being close," Catherine said embarrassed at feeling clingy. But she figured that she could get away with it for now.

Loki smiled a little and turned, sitting down himself before setting her down on his knee. He then turned and lay down on the bench before shifting Catherine so she was lying on top of him. "Are you sure about this? That doesn't look too comfortable."

Catherine lay on top of him, her head resting on his chest. "It's perfect," she murmured. She hummed in approval as Loki's hands gently caressed her back.

They lay like that for a while before Loki sat up again, gently pulling her with him. She was about to ask what he was doing when he stood up, bringing her to her feet too. He kept an arm around her to support her before guiding her away from the bench. He waved his hand and the bench transformed into a widened double bench that took up a good third of the cell. The bench surface was also replaced by a cushioned padding. Loki then picked her up and carried her back to the bench, placing her on it. He perched on it besides her. She smiled up at him looking a bit more relaxed. "Okay, this is nearly perfect," she said quietly.

Loki looked down at her curiously. "Oh… and what way would it be perfect?" he asked.

"To have your arms around me, holding me…" Catherine said bashfully. Loki grinned and lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her gently and intimately. She snuggled up to his chest and closed her eyes briefly. She reached up and caressed his cheeks "You're… not bothered about being seen being all… well, gentle with me?" she asked.

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Why would I care what they think?" he asked warmly. "I'm laying with my future Queen. That's all there is too it. Besides I don't believe their partners are here."

"If they've even got any," smirked Catherine.

Loki chuckled and kissed her head. "You have a wicked tongue, I love it."

"I learnt it from you." Catherine chuckled.

"Blaming me again," Loki mock sighed.

"It's a woman's prerogative," said Catherine. "If in doubt, blame the man."

Loki laughed a little at that. "Good to know."

Catherine relaxed a little more in his arms. She glanced down at the skin that was showing. It was still horrifically purple and black and there was a faint soreness covering her skin. But right now she just felt tired and stretched out. She knew she probably didn't look that nice at the moment. "Well," she said half jokingly. "There go my looks." She felt a hand cup her chin and tilt her head. She found herself looking into Loki's emerald eyes.

"Never," Loki whispered. "I will make the Avengers pay dearly for what they did to you…" he gently ran his hand over the bruises on her arm. She winced a little and he looked up at her. "They'll suffer as you suffered, I'll make sure of it."

Catherine smiled a little. "Might I make one request?" she asked.

Loki smiled as he brought her hand to his mouth. "Name it."

"Leave Agent Romanoff to me," she said with a smirk.

"Of course," Loki said before leaning down and placing his lips gently on hers.

XMARVELX

Aftershocks of the serum hit Catherine's system a few hours later. She and Loki were lightly dozing on the enlarged bench when she woke up suddenly, her body alive with pain. She tried to stifle her cry of pain but it still resulted in a loud whimper. Loki was awake in seconds, his eyes running over her immediately as her body twitched in the after-effects.

"Catherine?" he asked sitting up.

Catherine bit back tears as the aches began to recur again and again, filling her body with a pain, though milder than the original, was fresher because of the period of calm in between the aches. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes trying to black it out. She felt a hand on her head and some soothing magic enter her body. She lost the battle against her tears and felt them spill down her cheeks as she struggled through the pain. She let out a small sob which Loki gently shushed.

"Sshhh, Catherine, it's alright. I'm here…" he told her as he tried to ease some of the pain. She looked at him blinkingly before closing her eyes amidst another whimper of pain. Loki gently leant over and kissed her forehead softly. "Just breathe, Catherine," he said. "It'll pass." She nodded but couldn't help another whimper of pain as another aftershock racked her body.

As the tears coursed down her face, Catherine rolled over and buried her face in Loki's chest, feeling his strong arms envelop her. She hated being weak; she hated what the Avengers did to her.

She tensed up as she decided something. She was done being a victim of circumstance or people. From now on there were going to be no more half measures. She was going to get stronger and when Barton came for them tomorrow, she was going to fight and she was going to work with Loki to conquer this planet and its unbelievably cruel race. She'd teach them a new meaning of hell.


	31. Hell breaks loose

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirty_

**This chapter is rated M for violent scenes**

Loki barely slept that night. Catherine woke up several times with fading aches and pains but she gradually fell into a normal slumber and he followed soon after but he was still tired when the pair of them woke up later that morning. With the cell not having any windows, it was impossible to tell what time it was properly. The temperature in the cell was unchanged and everything looked as though it had last night. There was no one around so Loki guessed it might still be morning.

Catherine was stirring slowly. She lay with her back against Loki's chest and his arms around her. She snuggled back into him and he, waking up, warmly pressed her back against him even more. It was probably the last morning cuddle they'd get for a while. The plan would kick off today. He rested his cheek against her hair and whispered gently to her. "How do you feel?" he asked. "Any better?"

"A lot better," she murmured. "I can't wait to get out of here."

Loki rubbed her shoulder slowly. "We will. Barton's due to arrive around noon so we just need to continue being as difficult as possible for the Avengers. Once Barton arrives, we'll be able to escape. But we need to get the sceptre," he added. "I think I saw it in Banner's lab on the way to this cell."

Catherine looked thoughtful. "I could go get it," she murmured.

Loki frowned. "What?"

"I could pretend I wanted to cooperate then around noon I'll take the chance to get the sceptre." Catherine suggested.

Loki stroked down her side. "Are you even feeling physically up to that? You went through hell yesterday…" he pointed out. "I don't want you being hurt again."

Catherine gently rolled over so she was facing him. "I'll be fine," she said. "Sif's training will be put to good use," she pointed out. "Besides if I see Agent Romanoff along the way…" she trailed off with a grin at Loki. "So it's win-win, really."

Loki chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist again. "You're sexy when you're vindinctive," he said lightly pressing his lips against hers. She reached up and ran her hand through his hair.

"And you're sexy when you've got that mischievous glint in your eye; reminds me of the all the pranks we pulled back home," Catherine whispered.

Loki smiled softly, his eyes lit up by remembrance. "They were good days… but we'll have better ones here on Midgard. Once we quash the scum of course."

"Of course," said Catherine.

XMARVELX

They received a visit from Fury late morning. He arrived with Natasha Romanoff and they found Loki and Catherine sat together on the (magically restored) bench. Loki had a protective arm around Catherine and he glowered at the pair as they walked in. "Well, well, if it isn't the two torture agents," he said snarling. "I hope you got your kicks last night because you won't be getting another chance with her again."

"We want to talk to Lady Catherine again," Fury said sternly.

"When you say "talk"," Catherine growled.

"I mean talk," Fury said shortly. "The business with the questioning yesterday wasn't a success; we don't have time to waste trying it again."

"Questioning?" Loki repeated, incredulity in his voice. "Torture is the only way you can describe it."

"You're one to talk; how many people have you killed over the last few weeks? At least 80 in the first two days," Fury spat angrily.

"Why should I bother coming with you?" Catherine shrugged. "If you try and force me out, we'll both escape." She said gesturing to the door pointedly.

"And how far would you honestly get?" Natasha scoffed.

"About as far as I could throw you, which would be an impressive distance," Catherine snarled.

"If you could even catch me," Natasha smirked.

"Sure I could," said Catherine amused. "You big head would weigh you down. Might be time to stop pumping it full of that hot air you have going on." Loki laughed at Catherine's comment as Natasha scowled. Fury rolled his, well, eye and turned back to Catherine, folding his arms.

"I would really recommend cooperating with us, Lady Catherine," said Fury. "We have special gadgets in that cage that could make things very uncomfortable for you guys whilst we wait it out. Tell me; are gods immune to pure concentrated acid? Cos we can make it acid rain in that cell if we wanted it too. Do you want to scar your boyfriend's pretty face?" he said with a sneer.

Catherine scoffed before making a slashing motion across her throat with her hand. "Alright, that's enough, you're boring me." She fake yawned and grinned at him. "I'll have a "chat" with you; only because I'm bored and your threats are truly pathetic. It's fun seeing you so desperate," she grinned.

Loki shot her a quizzical look and she looked up at him before pulling him down for a passionate kiss. He grinned into the kiss, delighting in how uncomfortable it seemed to make Fury and Natasha look. He brought a hand to her head, pulling her closer and smirking as she moaned a little bit.

"When you've finished sucking each other's faces off," Fury growled in annoyance.

Catherine rose to her feet and moved away from Loki but not before he sneakily managed to swipe a tap on her rear. She smirked a little as she approached the door. As Fury opened it, she stepped through, only to find her arm grabbed by Natasha before she was escorted from the room.

XMARVELX

Catherine was back in the chair with bonds again facing Fury, Natasha, Stark and Steve Rogers this time. Banner had given her some more painkillers and examined her before Fury had brought her here. She cast her eyes over the group curiously, especially Steve Rogers. He didn't look thrilled to be here but he said nothing. Stark was wearing a suit and watching her intently. She just stared back at him, not to be outdone.

"So, Catherine, let's try this questioning again, shall we?" Fury asked.

Catherine glanced up at the clock. 11:25. Thirty five minutes she had to stall them. She wouldn't tell them anything vital but she could tell them things that wouldn't affect their chances of succeeding, surely? She trapped her hands on the arms of the chair. She nodded simply at Fury.

"You came through to this world later than Loki did; how did you get here?" Fury asked. "Did Loki use the Tessaract to bring you here?" he said watching her.

"No," said Catherine. "I came through the Tessaract portal. That's how I ended up where he was."

"And where was that?" Fury pushed.

Catherine smiled. "I'm not acquainted with your countries and states, I couldn't tell you. We were underground though."

"Did Loki not tell you?" asked Natasha.

"I never asked," Catherine shrugged. "It didn't seem important at the time."

"Why are you bothering to tell us this?" said Stark. "You were keeping your mouth fairly zipped yesterday; what's changed?"

Catherine shrugged. "I never promised I'd tell you anything. It matters not that you know how I entered the world. Besides I wasn't in the mood."

Stark looked disbelievingly at her. "You let yourself get tortured because you weren't in the mood?!"

Catherine nodded. "I suppose you could say that."

"You're strange," said Stark bluntly.

"Thank you," said Catherine.

Fury cleared his throat. "Well I'm going to keep asking anyway. Do you recognise the names Clint Barton and Erik Selveig?" he asked.

Catherine nodded. "Yes, they work for Loki."

"Correction," said Stark. "They work for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Well now they work for Loki," said Catherine simply.

"Where are they now?" Fury asked.

"Far away from you," said Catherine.

Stark rolled his eyes. "You think you're pretty funny don't you?"

Catherine smirked. "You must think I'm pretty stupid if you expect me to answer a question like that with the answers you want."

Fury sighed. "We know that Loki plans to use the Tessaract to bring his army through to this world," he said. "Do you know anything about them?"

Catherine shrugged. "Only what they look like."

"Is it true they want the Tessaract?" asked Stark.

"Yes, they crave its power," Catherine said.

"But it isn't from their home world," said Steve Rogers. "The Tessaract is rumoured in legends to have been a gift from Odin."

"It was," said Catherine. This was safe to talk about, kill time until Barton arrived. "The Chitauri want it anyway. It has unlimited power, why wouldn't they?" she asked.

Fury brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "So Loki's deal is that in exchange for an army, Loki will give them the Tessaract as long as the Earth falls to him?"

Catherine smiled. "Yes, I think it's a pretty fair deal given the power of the cube." She didn't mention Loki's true intentions with the handover.

"I'm not buying it," said Stark. "There's no way I can see Loki just handing it over to them. What's to stop them withdrawing their army once he has handed it over?"

"Nothing," said Captain America. "Which makes his plans all the more dubious."

"I don't really see how it matters," said Catherine interrupting them with a smile. "Either way it won't end well for you."

XMARVELX

Loki observed the conversation and the time from his cell with a patient look. Catherine was doing a good job of keeping them talking. All they needed now was Barton to arrive, cause some merry hell and distract the Avengers enough for Catherine to grab the sceptre before they made their escape. In the end it had worked out rather well, Loki thought. He had found himself wondering what it would have been like dealing with this on his own but having Catherine here definitely helped.

He continued to watch the conversation with interest. Catherine was watching the conversation flow out with the Avengers with interest. They'd now began to talk amongst themselves.

"I really don't see how this plan is going work out for you when you're going to be stuck on this ship a long time," Fury said curiously.

Catherine just shrugged. "You can't keep us here forever," she said simply.

Before anyone could respond, Dr Banner entered the room with Thor who was carrying the sceptre. After leaving the sceptre on the table by Fury (presumably so they could keep an eye on it) Thor went straight over to Stark who sat up straight.

Loki smirked at the presence of the sceptre. They'd played right into Catherine's hands having the sceptre there.

"Jarvis has finished breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files," Dr Banner informed him. Fury and Natasha whirled on Stark in disbelief whilst Banner glanced over his shoulder at them nervously.

"Oh good, that was fast," said Stark. "He works quickly."

Fury was advancing now, his eye narrowed in suspicion. "What exactly is your computer system doing breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D files?"

Stark smirked. "That's right. Deflect the conversation before anyone can wonder what it is that S.H.I.E.L.D has to hide. By the way, what is Phase 2?" he said as he examined a hand held computer which was showing him the files. Fury didn't answer immediately but Thor was already advancing.

"I found many boxes labelled Phase 2," he said. "They all contain weapons; weapons that are powered by the Tessaract."

"Thor, we gathered everything related to the Tessaract; this is not-" Fury began but was cut off.

"I'm sorry, Nick," said Stark, bringing up a hologram of what looked like nuclear missiles. "What were you lying about?" Fury looked angry but didn't get a chance to say something as Steve spoke up.

"I guess I was wrong, the world hasn't changed a bit," he mused bitterly.

"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Natasha who was being silent. She looked at him pointedly and stepped towards him.

"Do you wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" she asked warily.

Banner laughed sourly. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you," Natasha told him.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Banner retorted.

Loki grinned at the growing tension in the room. It was working out exactly as he'd hoped it would and it was all thanks to Catherine.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Natasha pointed out.

"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy," Banner told her firmly. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tessaract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury stood still for a moment before pointing at Thor. "Because of him."

Thor looked confused. "Me?"

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet," Fury explained. "Who had a grudge match that levelled a small town," he continued. "We learnt that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly and hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor growled.

"But you're not the only people out there are you?" asked Fury. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched; they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Rogers asked irritably.

"Your work with the Tessaract is what drew Loki to it," Thor pointed out. "And his allies," he added. "It's a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"Higher form?" Steve asked.

"You forced our hand," said Fury. "We had to come up with some-"

"-nuclear deterrent," Stark interrupted. "Cos that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury scoffed.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-" Steve began.

"Wait hold on, how is this now about me?" Stark asked.

"I'm sorry," Rogers said. "Isn't everything?"

Catherine shot a sneaky look at the cameras. She was smirking and Loki, watching from his cell found himself a little turned on by the fact that she was getting a kick out the situation too.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor was saying.

"Excuse me?! Do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury turned on Thor.

The room began to fill with the sound of raised voices as everyone began to talk at once. Loki grinned at the scene. This was going exactly as he hoped. They were turning on each other. You couldn't put that many egos in one room and expect them to be heroes.

"You speak of control yet you cause chaos," Thor pointed out.

"It's his MO isn't it?" Banner asked. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

Fury turned to Banner. "You need to step away."

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark shrugged.

"You know damn well why!" Captain America snapped. "Now back off."

"Oh I'm starting to want you to make me," said Stark.

Steve sneered and circled Stark. "Oh yeah, big man in a suit of armour. Take that off and what are you?" he asked.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Stark shrugged.

"I know guys who are none of that who are worth ten of you," Steve growled. "And I've seen the footage, the only thing you really fight for is yourself." He told Stark coldly. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play; to lay down under a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I'd just cut the wire," said Stark bluntly.

Steve smirked. "Always a way out; you know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero; like you?" Stark retorted. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

Steve glared at him. "Put on the suit; let's go a few rounds."

Thor began to laugh at the pair of them. "You people are so petty and tiny."

"Yeah this is a team," muttered Banner.

"Agent Romanoff," said Fury. "Would you please escort Dr Banner to his-"

"Where?" Banner countered. "You rented my room,"

"The cell was just in case-" Fury began.

"In case you needed to kill me." Banner put it bluntly. "But you can't. I know. I tried."

Silence fell across the room and Loki watched it intently. So the beast had tried to commit suicide had he? He stepped back across the cell, continuing to watch the screen.

"I got low," Banner admitted. "I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it up," he said resentfully. "So I moved on; I focused on helping people," he continued. "I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff, you wanna know how I stay calm?"

Banner didn't get to finish his sentence as Fury had noticed something. Banner was holding the sceptre. Loki stepped forward in his cell, his eyes watching Banner intently.

"Dr Banner," said Fury carefully. "Put down the sceptre."

XMARVELX

Catherine stared at the scene in intrigue and amusement. They really had been squabbling like small children over all this; it was both amusing and pathetic. She was beginning to feel even more inclined to help Loki conquer this pathetic race. They were so childish and idiotic that it was ridiculous. How they managed to advance this far, she didn't know. She watched as Dr Banner looked down at the sceptre in his hands and shocked, put it down.

Just then a beeping began on a handheld device in Banner's pocket. He produced it and frowned. "Sorry kids, guess you don't get to see my party trick after all," he said before examining the screen.

"You've located the Tessaract?" Thor asked. Immediately a squabble began again and Thor had to speak louder to be heard. "It belongs on Asgard; no human is a match for it."

"You're not going alone," Steve said grabbing Stark's arm mid exit.

"You going to stop me?" Stark snapped back at him.

"Put on the suit, let's find out," Steve retorted.

"I'm not afraid of you, man." said Stark sneeringly.

"Put on the suit," growled Rogers.

Meanwhile Banner was looking pale. "Oh my god…"

There wasn't much time for processing Banner's exclamation as a mighty explosion rocked the ship sending glass and debris everywhere. Catherine's chair toppled back and the restraints loosened. With some quick magic, Catherine was rid of them and was invisible in seconds. She looked around at the damage. There was chaos everywhere, going on around her. Looking up at the clock, Catherine saw that the clock struck twelve. A smirk crossed her features. Right on time, Barton.

She looked down and saw that part of the floor had been ripped away. Natasha and Banner had fallen down and were sprawled on the metal grating below. Catherine felt a rush of pleasure seeing Natasha in pain for once but a stab of sympathy for Banner. Monster he may be but he had treated her kindly enough when she was healing and he'd been no advocate for the torture. She almost wished she could take him with her.

Glancing up, she saw that Stark and Rogers had been thrown against the wall, they were struggling to get up, Stark stubbornly pushing Steve away from him. She turned her attention to Fury and Thor; seeing that they had been thrown into the other room. She could see that they were picking themselves up. Taking her chance and ignoring her slightly groaning limbs, she vaulted onto the table and grabbed the sceptre. She saw Stark look up at the floating sceptre and stretch out his hand shouting something like. "She's got the sceptre!" before the sceptre vanished with her invisibility.

She jumped off the table and ran out the room as fast as she could. She heard people running around panicking; shouts that one of the engines had been damaged; if they lost another they'd be falling quickly and with no chance of saving everyone on board. Catherine grinned to herself. This would definitely slow S.H.I.E.L.D down, no mistake. She ran down the corridor, leaping out the way of rushing soldiers. She crouched in a corner as people ran past her, watching the flashing red lights of the wall, illuminate the darkening corridors as the other lights began to fade out, the electricity giving up. She waited there for a few minutes, wanting to see any sign of what the Avengers were going to be doing. She was invisible but she'd rather not run into them. She heard a loud roar echo through the ship. She glanced behind her as though expecting the Hulk to be there. So he had definitely transformed then. This was going to be fun.

Soon enough she soon saw Stark and Rogers rush down the corridor, making their way to the damaged engine. She followed them quickly to see what they were up to. She heard Stark tell Rogers he'd meet him at the engine before doubling back and moving down a corridor. She could feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins. She hurried through the screaming and shouting crowds, ducking in dark spaces until she was sure no one would hear her footsteps.

She stepped into one of the rooms and found that she was in the torture chamber again. She took a deep breath trying to block out the memories before she spotted a few syringes left on the trolley. She smirked and waved her hand over her jacket pocket, making it bigger on the inside. She put the syringes into a plastic bag and stuffed them in her pocket. She'd find Agent Romanoff and give her this present as soon as she could.

She found that the invisibility spell was fading. She undid it so that she could conserve her magic. She stepped outside only to come face to face with a few soldiers. She smiled at them pleasantly before leaping into the air, kicking out with both legs, knocking two of the four soldiers back into the others. She swung the sceptre out as the two at the back, pushed their comrades aside and went for their guns. The edge of the sceptre caught their throats in a straight line. Blood gushed from their wounds as they staggered to a stop. Catherine brought her leg up and kicked out, sending them both to the floor. By this time the other two had gotten to their feet. She used the sceptre to blast one back through the wall, after which he no longer moved.

She turned to face the other one but they had moved fast and was in her face before she could do anything. They had grabbed hold of the sceptre with both hands before bringing their elbow up into Catherine's face. She winced in agony, momentarily loosening her hold on the staff. The soldier snatched it away from her as blood gushed from her nose. She took a moment to steady herself before the sceptre was swung painfully into her stomach. She doubled over before feeling the weight of it crack across her back. Hitting the floor, she felt a boot kick her hard in the side.

Catherine's training began to kick in as the adrenaline pulsed inside her. She reached out, grabbing the solider's ankle and snapped it jerkily, making him cry out in pain. A stabbing pain in her left shoulder made her scream as the sceptre pierced her skin. She swung her leg around, knocking into the soldier's legs and bringing him down. She rolled onto her back and kicked the soldier in the face before he could respond. She winced, getting to a sitting position and grabbing the sceptre before yanking it from him, after giving him a kick in the stomach when he struggled. She jumped to her feet and drove the sceptre's blade down into the soldier's neck.

She pulled it out and glared at the soldier before turning and running down the corridor. Her nose was bleeding badly and her side and stomach were sore but she kept going. She turned down another corridor and found herself being noticed by two other guards who ran up to her. She fired the sceptre at them and some electric wires came undone, falling on them and sending powerful deadly volts through their bodies. She ran quickly and jumped over them, avoiding the wires.

She found some heavy equipment to duck behind whilst people passed her by, shouting instructions. She could hear the sound of thrusters outside which meant that Iron Man was suiting up now. She hurried along to the nearest window and saw that he was examining the ship. A shape in blue and red was hovering around nearby. Captain America. That meant that Thor, Banner, Romanoff and Fury were still on board somewhere. A rather devilish smile lit up her face at the thought of getting even with Natasha.

She headed down the stairway towards Loki's floor when some soldiers came up them. Catherine grabbed the railings with both hands, managing the sceptre under her arm and kicked out at the soldiers, sending them flying down the stairs. She moved through the air gracefully and landed on top of them. Kicking them swiftly, she leapt away from the scene, grabbing the sceptre and turning left sharply down the corridor.

A group of guards were already on their way down the hall when they spotted her. Gripping hold of the sceptre, Catherine swung it round as they ran at her. She tripped the first guard up so that he landed at her feet. She then brought the sceptre back round so it collided with the second person's head, knocking them back into the third guard. She then leapt into the air, kicking out at the fourth one and using their chest to propel herself over the next two guards using their shoulders as stepping stones. She landed behind them and stabbed forward with the sceptre, straight through one of the guard's spines.

The other guards were turning around ready to attack again. She dived to the side when bullets flew past her. She shot a blast at the guards but missed. She twisted and rolled away further along the wall when a guard's leg swung out of nowhere trying to kick her. She blasted the sceptre at that guard and this time it hit. Two other guards had reached her by this point and made grabs for the sceptre. Catherine twisted the sceptre so the blade rested right over one of the guard's hearts before ramming it into their chest, killing them immediately.

A knee hitting her hard in the chest made her stagger back though her grip on the sceptre remained strong. She used her leverage to swing under the guard's legs and the sceptre like a limbo pole before turning and leaping into the air, kneeing the guard in the back before landing so she sat on their shoulders. Grabbing their neck, she twisted it violently. As the lifeless body fell to the floor, Catherine felt the two other guards grab her from behind. She felt a cold barrel against the side of her head as the guards restrained her.

_Oh by the gods, I'm going to die, _she thought. _There's no way I can get out of this without teleporting and making myself weaker. I can't go without the sphere. I can't be in two places at once. _

Catherine's eyes widened as she realised something. Yes she could be in two places at once. Loki had showed her how he did the duplication spell. If she could do that then she could get out of this hold. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. It only took a moment but she felt the hold on her loosen and the feeling of the gun on her head disappeared. She opened her eyes and realised she was stood behind the guards and herself for that matter.

For a moment she just blinked in shock; it was so surreal watching herself. She spotted the sceptre on the floor and instantly summoned it to her. One of the guards barely had time to turn before she slashed the sceptre viciously and wildly at him, decapitating him. A feeling of nausea filled her throat immediately as she realised what she'd done. She hadn't meant to go quite that far. She hit the other guard hard against the back of the neck so they fell down as her clone disappeared. She snatched the gun and ran off in the direction of the holding cell, trying not to be sick.

Glancing around, she made her way to the holding cell where Loki was before turning to the security system and pointed the sceptre at it. It sent a sharp blast to the screens, damaging them and opening the door. She stepped inside and looked around. She ran up to the cage where Loki headed over to the doors. He frowned at her when he saw her face.

"Catherine, who did that-?" he began but she grinned, showing him she was mostly okay.

"Some soldiers getting lucky shots," she said then smirked. "I'm creating quite the death toll." She tried not to think of the decapitated man a few corridors away. It was disgusting and she wouldn't be killing anyone like that again. She turned to the monitor that controlled the opening of the cell and she pointed the sceptre at it, causing the cell doors to open.

Footsteps echoed outside the door and Loki turned to Catherine. "Hide yourself," he said urgently. Not having time to argue, she turned invisible, leaving the staff to one side when she saw Thor enter the room. He spotted Loki just coming out of the cell and immediately ran for him.

"NO!" he screamed as he leapt at Loki.

Catherine's heart leapt, after all her efforts to break Loki out, she wasn't going to let Thor force him back in that cell again. As he neared Loki, Catherine ran after him and when he jumped at Loki, she jumped at him. That's when Loki's copy disappeared and both Thor and Catherine went crashing into the cell. Catherine hit the floor hard and rolled, dizziness replacing her vision as she began to black out. However she managed to hold onto some form of consciousness, clinging to her magic.

XMARVELX

Loki sneered at Thor. "Are you ever _not _going to fall for that?"

Thor was glowering at him as he swung his hammer at the cell glass. Despite the hammer's power, the cage only cracked. Loki grinned at the predicament his brother was in. He backed off toward the monitor and smirked triumphantly. "The humans think us immortal, shall we test that?" he asked.

Just then some footsteps entered the room. Loki looked up to find a man with short hair in a suit, holding a rather large and impressive looking weapon. The man looked about as out of place holding it as Thor would appear in a library.

"Move away please," the man said a little nervously.

Loki straightened up, watching the man carefully. He brought his hands up a little and moved away, mock obediently.

"You like this?" the man asked. "I started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does," the man said with a shrug. "Wanna find out?" he asked before letting out a scream as the real Loki materialised behind him, the sceptre rammed through the man's heart. Loki heard Thor let out a scream and smirked a little. His brother and his love for the humans.

Loki made his way over to the monitor and began to open the steel trap with a smirk at his brother. He moved his fingers to the button, his heart pounding with excitement at finally seeing his brother gone; and as they grazed the button, that was when he saw her.

XMARVELX

Catherine had barely been able to stay conscious. Her body's injuries were beginning to catch up with her and she was taking a moment to recover a little. She watched as Loki killed the man who'd threatened to shoot him. Thor seemed pretty agonised over this so the person must have been important. Catherine began to sit up slowly and she noticed Loki's hand hovering over the monitor.

A loud roaring filled her ears and she looked out of the window. The floor around the cage had disappeared and she realised what was going on. The cage was above a large hole in the ship. With a sharp panic, she forced herself to her feet and looked in the glass. She was still invisible. Loki didn't realise she was in here. She willed the magic to disappear just as he pressed the button.

"Loki, no!" she screamed as she reappeared. Loki's horrified, wide eyes met hers for a brief second before the cell dropped down sharply, plummeting to the Earth over 30,000 feet below.

**Author's Note: **Well that was a fun chapter. For anyone who's wondering about the cell dropping twist, I'm quite happy with how it turned out because in my head I knew how it would go down but it was surprisingly hard writing a reason for Catherine to go into the cell. That said, as I'm sure you've all noticed, Catherine doesn't always do the sensible thing. She's impulsive and reckless, remember? She also has a terrible tendency to do silly things Silly girl.


	32. Rescue and Reunion

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirty One_

**Another M chapter ; )**

Catherine just about heard Loki screaming as the cell fell through the steel trap.

The darkness that was rushing by the cell was soon replaced by blinding light as the cell dropped from the ship. Catherine and Thor were being flipped all over the cell as it turned over and over, spinning towards the ground. At the rate of the speed they were going, they were about to hit the ground with devastating force; even Catherine didn't fancy their chances of survival. Thor was bouncing off the glass walls, trying to grip Mjolnir as they came closer to the ground.

The earth was rising to meet them. Catherine could see the sea, the beach growing larger and clearer and next to beach, a large pile of rocks. Catherine closed her eyes bracing herself for what would undoubtedly be either a very painful or very quick death. Her brain shut off, not thinking of anything emotional or nostalgic. Her instinct to curl up and take it, kicked in.

She opened her eyes when she heard Thor's hammer hit the window next to her with such force that it smashed open. The hammer dragged Thor through it and, as the rocks loomed up so close, Catherine felt Thor drag her out of the cell by the arm just in the nick of time. They flew out of the way of the collision just as the cell exploded in a ball of smoke and flames.

Thor and Catherine flew out the way before Mjolnir gave way and sent them crashing to the nearest ground which happened to be long stretches of fields as far as Catherine could see anyway. She cried out in pain as she hit the floor and rolled for what felt like endlessly until she eventually came to a stop. She lay there in agony, closing her eyes and trying to breathe through the pain. A few minutes passed before she heard Thor's heavy footsteps approach her. She rolled over and looked up at him.

"Catherine?" he asked, reaching down to check on her. "Are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere…" Catherine muttered. She tried to prop herself up on her elbows but winced.

"Don't move… just rest for a while." He looked down at her seriously before sitting next to her. "I want to talk to you, anyway."

Catherine gave him a very wary look.

XMARVELX

"CATHERINE!" Loki screamed in horror as his brother and Catherine disappeared into the steel trap.

What the hell was she doing in that cell with Thor in the first place? He raked his hands through his hair before he began to replay the scene in his head. He'd told her to hide. She'd seen Thor leap at him and… oh Catherine… Loki kicked himself. She was probably trying to stop him being locked up again. Now because of that she and Thor were plummeting to their deaths. Loki brought his hands to his face, covering it completely.

There was no guarantee that Asgardians could survive even that drop. Sure, he'd fallen through space but it had been a slow process. He'd survived torture but the impact of a drop like that would be colossal even for a god. He took a shaky breath unable to believe that in one minute, his world was coming crashing down again. He found himself remembering his conversation with Odin upon discovering his heritage. The moment that Odin had identified him as Laufey's son had been the worst moment of his existence; until now at any rate.

Loki was spared dwelling more on the situation by a cough from behind him. He picked up the sceptre, turned and looked at the man who was dying. Now, he recognised him. Agent Coulson, Hawkeye had mentioned him.

"You're going to lose," Coulson told him bluntly.

Loki, who had started to walk away, froze and turned around. "Why?" he asked quietly.

"It's in your nature," said Coulson.

"Your heroes are scattered," sneered Loki. "Your floating fortress falls from the sky." These were all hollow victories right now in Loki's mind, now that he had lost Catherine. "Where is my disadvantage?" he asked in a sinister tone.

"You lack conviction," Agent Coulson spoke.

"I don't think I-" Loki growled before Coulson fired the weapon. A bright orange flaming blast rocketed from the weapon, sending Loki flying into a wall, the blast burning through his outfit. He managed to struggle into a sitting position and use his magic to prevent the worst of the damage.

He got to his feet and found the nearest door, exiting through it. There was a ladder leading up onto the roof. Slowly Loki began to climb until he saw the sky above him. He climbed out and stepped out onto the roof. Looking around, he recognised the transport carrier he'd had Hawkeye steal for him. Men were already rushing over to Loki, beckoning him to the carrier. He waved them away before boarding the landing ramp. As the carrier began to take off, Loki slumped to the ground, lost in thoughts about Catherine and how he was supposed to enjoy this victory without her. He couldn't believe what she'd done and how quick he'd been to press that button.

XMARVELX

"Is Loki worth it?" Thor asked Catherine who was now sat up fully and checking her arms and legs for deep injuries. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Worth what?" she asked.

"Worth all this; lying, the destruction of these people's world, all the deaths." Thor told her.

Catherine looked down at the floor. "Yes he is. I love him. If that means all of this then… so be it. I don't care about this planet or its people, Thor. I only care about Loki."

Thor looked at her sadly. "I know you love him… but his actions are wrong. He's turning you into someone like he's becoming."

Catherine sighed. "Loki is doing this because he feels like he has nothing else, you know?" she said. "He wouldn't admit it but he needs this, he needs to feel like he deserves a kingdom and self validation. Odin told him for years he was born to be King and to find out that he's not even Odin's real son, it shook him up. You were banished when he found out. You didn't see what it did to him."

Thor watched Catherine curiously. "Loki obviously blames me for a lot of what happened to him, what he's done."

Catherine looked at Thor seriously. "Loki grew up in your shadow. I know you loved him Thor but back then you were arrogant and thoughtless," she pointed out. "Loki was always the more thoughtful one, the one more likely to be able to mediate peace. I guess he just felt like Odin favoured you because you were more of a warrior; more like him. I think he knew he never really stood a chance, he was always living in your shadow."

Thor looked down at his feet. "I know I behaved quite badly at times. I suppose he did favour me over Loki more often than not. But Loki never acted like he minded."

"Loki wasn't that type though," said Catherine. "But I'm not putting all the blame on you. Odin did kind of make false promises to Loki. Whereas Frigga treated you both the same," said Catherine. She sighed. "What I'm saying is that Loki has a point about Earth needing one ruler and he does feel like he's been deprived of something he was promised. Maybe you might think that's childish but I know he could be a good King. He deserves to have something he can be proud of. Something that he's achieved himself."

Thor looked at her incredulously. "Catherine, how can you justify the killing of innocent people to make his dream happen? Loki is taking out on his bitterness towards us on a planet full of defenceless people!" He looked down at her hands. They were caked in dried blood. "Please tell me that's your blood."

Catherine looked up at him. "It's not." She admitted this quietly. "As for Loki's actions, I can't say I don't sympathise with him. You have everything you want. Loki had nothing after what happened in Asgard. He was humiliated."

"He tried to destroy an entire race!" Thor argued.

"He just wanted to prove himself to Odin," said Catherine. "Despite the fact that Odin lied to him and let him believe that he could be a King of Asgard when he was never a real contender. Everyone has always looked down on him except a select few. He just wanted people to admire him in the way that they admire you, Thor. Is that so wrong?"

"It is when he's subjugating people to do it?" Thor countered.

"These people can't be trusted to rule themselves; they're a wreck. Our people are peaceful, theirs make war. If Loki rules them, that will stop. And yes, they might not like him as their ruler but not everyone on Midgard likes their politicians or royalty. They just get on with their own lives." Catherine said in exasperation.

"A lot of people are going to die in this battle," said Thor. "You know that right?"

"It'll be one battle, to end all wars," said Catherine.

Thor watched her quietly for a few moments. "You really do believe in him. I don't know what's happened to you but you're not the Catherine I knew…"

Catherine slowly stood up. "The Catherine you knew was weak and she's dead." She told him as she looked up at the sky. "And by the end of the day so will the Avengers," she said and looked to Thor. "I suggest you get out of here."

Thor stood up. "You don't want me dead?"

Catherine paused. "I… I never said that."

"You told me to run away," said Thor. "You must still have some regard for me even if Loki doesn't. Will you not see sense and get him to stop this madness?"

Catherine turned and looked at Thor. "What is awaiting him if he stops this? Nothing," she said. "He has nothing to lose anymore, Thor. Neither do I," she said.

"Is that why you've started killing people?" Thor said in disgust. "The blood on your hands, the look in your eyes. It's like you're dying inside… because you've destroyed a part of your soul."

"They were in my way, I was defending myself," Catherine murmured.

"That's what all killers say," said Thor in disgust. "You really have sunk low, Catherine."

Catherine turned around in anger. "I do not need your judgement, Thor. I will not betray Loki. If you want to stop his plans then you will have to do it yourself," she said and began to walk off at a limp, leaving a torn Thor behind.

XMARVELX

Loki reached Stark Tower a few hours later. Everything was already set up on the roof. He could see Erik working on the Tessaract as he descended the hovercraft. Waving it away, Loki approached the scientist. Erik glanced up and stood up with a grin.

"Master Loki, you've returned!" he said beaming.

Loki nodded, unable to bring a grin to his mouth. "Is the Tessaract ready?"

"Any second now," confirmed Erik before looking around. "Is Lady Catherine returned too?"

"Catherine is dead," Loki said coldly. "S.H.I.E.L.D killed her," he said. He knew it was a rotten lie to tell but he saw no reason to tell his servants what had really gone down on the helicarrier.

Erik's face fell. "That is wicked news. No doubt they will pay for it later."

Loki sneered up at the sky. "Oh they will," he said. "Stay close to the Tessaract and wait for my command," he said. He made his way downstairs and into Stark's apartment.

He had to admit the man knew how to live well. He made his way to the bar and found himself without thinking, pouring himself a large whiskey. The reality of the afternoon's events began to catch up with him and he took a large swig unable to deal with the build-up of pain bubbling away.

His beloved Catherine was gone and he'd been the one to kill her. He couldn't bear that. He'd never imagined he would have to live life without her again. At least before he'd known she was alive but now… knowing she was gone, just increased the pain tenfold. He took another swig, closing his eyes bitterly as her image swam in front of his eyes. _What had he done? What the hell had he done?_

XMARVELX

Catherine had been walking through fields for about two hours and her body was well and truly sore now. She looked behind her, no longer expecting Thor to bother coming after her. He'd tried to convince her and failed. There was absolutely nothing more to say to him anymore. It saddened her in a way but it hardened her resolve. She looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

Would Loki be at Stark Tower now? He should be. She should try teleporting again. Was it wise with her body being so sore? What more could happen to her? She stopped in the middle of the field and looked at her hands. She still felt strong enough to do some magic. One spell was all she'd need. She took a breath and closed her eyes. She hadn't seen Stark Tower but maybe if she imagined Loki then she'd arrive where he was. It was worth a try. She felt the tug of magic surround her and with a gasp, she was gone, flying through the air so quickly she couldn't breathe.

Everything flew by so fast that when Stark Tower did appear, it loomed out of nowhere and Catherine closed her eyes as she flashed through the window, materialising in the middle of the room. She dropped to the floor, landing on a soft rug, all the energy drained out of her. She closed her eyes wearily as she fought to catch her breath.

XMARVELX

Loki was finishing his drink when he heard a soft thump in the living area. He put the glass down slowly and turned around, his eyes dark with grief and annoyance. However they widened when he saw just who was lying in the middle of the floor. It was Catherine… but how could that be? He slowly walked over to where she lay on the rug and stared at her. She looked like she did when he saw her last. She had a bloody nose and she looked weakened from the battle. But how did she live?

"Catherine?" he asked.

She looked up at him with a faint smile. "Loki…" she said. "So you are here…"

"Never mind me," Loki said kneeling down next to her. "What about you? How did you survive the fall?" he asked. "That was a 30,000 foot drop, it should have killed you."

Catherine coughed. "Guess I don't die that easily."

"You would never have had enough magic to conjure yourself here," Loki mused in confusion. "So how did you manage it?"

Catherine released a raspy breath. "Thor… saved me. He got us out."

Loki closed his eyes in a mixture of annoyance and overwhelming relief. He had not lost Catherine. Thor had saved her and because of him, she was with Loki right now. He couldn't believe he was even thinking it but he was a little grateful to Thor. He gathered Catherine into his arms gently, cradling her softly against his chest. "Good…" he whispered. "I'm so glad for that…" he told her.

She smiled weakly at him. "For a minute I was beginning to think you weren't," she joked faintly.

"Not a chance," Loki whispered. "I'll always want you close to me, Catherine." He stroked her hair. "I'm just sorry I didn't realise you were in there. If Thor hadn't got you out then you would have died and it would have been my fault, I was so careless," Loki admitted.

Catherine looked up at him, knowing that he hated feeling so careless when he was normally so thoughtful. She rested her head against his chest some more, snuggling into him. "Don't beat yourself up, Loki," she said. "You didn't realise I was in there until it was too late. Besides it all worked out anyway."

Loki smirked a little and pulled his head back, looking down at her with narrowed eyes of slight amusement. "You're taking this near death experience rather well…"

Catherine smiled a little more. "Let's just say, at the end of it, I was even more sure about what I wanted. All I wanted was to get to you so we can finish this." She looked up at him lovingly. "How was the damage on the ship when you left?" she asked, reaching up to stroke his face. She watched as he gently took that hand that was stroking her face and kissed the fingers gently. She let out a breathy sigh of his sensual action especially when he brushed his lips over her forefingers.

"The ship was completely wrecked," he finally answered with a smirk. "It'll take them a while to get back on track." He kissed her hand again. "Enough time to heal you," he said reassuringly. "We're both going to need to be in fighting shape for tomorrow at the earliest. There's no way Fury would let them fight after what Barton put them through today." Catherine smiled up at him in relief.

He shifted his stance and slipped his free arm under her knees before picking her up. "Let's get you to bed," he said. "You need to rest up."

XMARVELX

When Catherine awoke she was feeling a lot better, thanks largely, she suspected, to Loki's magic. She was lying in a heavenly silky bed, the covers wrapped up to her throat and her head supported by several pillows. She closed her eyes in bliss at the feeling. She was so comfortable right now that she had no desire or inclination to move from her spot. She did however look around her to see where she was, in what room.

The bedroom was large and full of large computer screens, fancy gadgets and black modern furniture. The bed she was lying on was draped with a large silver coverlet and the coverlet was decorated with black beading. Bringing a hand out of the covers, Catherine stroked the beading gently. She looked around the room again. The windows were open and light pooled over the bed. She was on her own in the room. She sat up a little, wondering where Loki was.

"Loki?" she called.

"Catherine?" Loki entered the room quickly. "Are you alright?"

Catherine smiled a little in relief. "Yes, I-I was just wondering where you were."

"Just checking on the Tessaract," Loki smiled as he walked over to her and perched on the edge of the bed. He reached over and tucked some hair behind her ear. "How do you feel?"

Catherine sat up fully. "A lot better…" she told him frankly. "Definitely feeling ready for tomorrow."

Loki chuckled. "Are you sure you want to fight?"

"I owe Black Widow a present…" Catherine began before panicking and reaching for her jacket pocket only to realise that her clothes had completely changed. She now wore her long white nightgown with black lacy straps. "The plastic bag…" she said quietly.

Loki shook his head. "The magic surrounding your pocket kept it from harm," he said and waved his hand. The bag appeared in his hands. He looked at the syringes. "I assume you're planning on giving Agent Romanoff a taste of her own medicine… literally?" he smirked.

"Of course," Catherine said smirking in relief. "It would be rude of me not to return the favour."

Loki laughed at that and put the bag on the side of her dressing table. "Remind me not to get on the wrong side of you again," he jested playfully.

"I don't have a wrong side," Catherine joked back.

"Now now, don't tell lies" Loki taunted playfully.

"You're one to talk!" Catherine giggled.

"You're right there," Loki said and inched closer to her. He slid his hand down her face and tilted her cheek so that she was looking up at him. "But you love me anyway." He told her, learning in close

She closed her eyes and welcomed his kiss as their lips touched. She opened her mouth slightly to grant him entrance and felt his tongue slip into her mouth softly and slowly. She let out a breathy moan against his lips as his hand on her face began to stroke her cheek. She sat there quietly enjoying his kiss before bringing her hands to his shoulders. She felt his hands slide down her sides and lay down flat on the bed either side of her, his arms now sealing her in. Their kiss deepened lovingly and one of Catherine's hands moved to caress his hair, tugging him closer.

The need to breathe emerged and Loki pulled away with a slightly muffed groan. Their noses bumped against each other as Loki rested his forehead against Catherine's. She grinned at their close contact and after catching her breath, sneakily leant in for a chaste yet teasing kiss on the lips. He chuckled and leant in to return the favour. She sighed at the feel of his lips ever so lightly brushing hers. She leant in to kiss him again but he pulled away teasingly. She couldn't help whimpering a little at that and was rewarded by the feel of one of his hands moving to support her back. She nudged his nose with hers playfully. She sighed in pleasure when Loki leant forward and took her bottom lip between his teeth, gently grazing it. She slipped her hands down to his neck as she took his upper lip between her own teeth. The feeling of his teeth against her skin sent shivers down her.

Loki moved his lips to completely encompass Catherine's in a searing kiss. She groaned against his lips as he kissed her passionately and intensely. She felt his other hand come up to cup the back of her head as they kissed with greater intensity. Their tongues battled for dominance amidst the kiss.

Loki pulled back from Catherine who watched him quizzically as he stood up, tossed back the covers and climbed over her to settle in the bed next to her. As he did, she watched him magically transform his clothes into a black night shirt and black sleeping pants. He then moved the covers back over her before pulling her against him. Rolling on her side, Catherine wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled up to him warmly. Loki was kissing her head tenderly and she gently rubbed circles into his lower back as they lay there together. She could feel Loki humming in approval as she did so.

"What time is it?" she murmured against his chest.

"About eight o'clock." Loki murmured as he trailed kisses down her cheek and neck so he was leaning over her a little. Catherine released little sighs at his touch, her hands slowing their movements on his back. "So we need to get our rest…" Loki murmured hotly against her shoulder. She let out a light moan and reached up to nip at his neck playfully. Loki groaned loudly at that and turned to look back at her. She rolled over onto her back, staring up at him alluringly.

"It is a bit early… and I could think of a few better things to do in the meantime…" she murmured with a smile. She reached for his chest and trailed her hand down his front. "… and so much more satisfying," she added as she let her hand trail to his sleeping pants. Loki groaned as she stroked him through the material. She looked up at him with her eyes full of lust. She grinned as Loki jumped when her thumb brushed the head of his member.

Their eyes met as she slowly sat up again, rolling up his night shirt. She moved slowly and watched him for any sign of doubt or refusal. Slowly Loki raised his arms and she tugged off his shirt. She pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled him. She kissed his lips passionately and felt his arms circle her waist, pressing her against him which made them both groan. She ran her hands down his chest until they reached his sleeping pants. She tugged them down and felt Loki, remove his hands from her waist so she could sit up and raise her hips, tugging his pants and underwear off.

She rested herself on his thighs, smiling down at him cheekily. His hands immediately went to her nightgown, pulling it over her head in one smooth motion. He trailed his hands down to her breasts, cupping them in his hands and making her gasp. She raised her hips and removed her underwear, tossing it aside before sitting back on his legs. His hands began to caress her chest and she grinned, wriggling her hips over his crotch with a playful look in her eyes.

Loki sat up impatiently and smirking, pulled her towards him so that she sank onto his member, causing her to release a loud mewling sound. He pulled her body close to him and began to thrust upwards. Catherine rested her hands on his shoulders, leaning her head against his forehead and moaning loudly as he moved within her. His arms supported her back, crossed over so that both of his hands gripped her shoulders. He grinned at the noises she was making.

"Loki…" she whispered in rapture. "Loki… harder, please," she begged him. He leant in and kissed her hard on the mouth. His pace began to roughen quickly. She moaned in his mouth, her hands moving to tug in his hair. She lifted herself up and crashed down on him, releasing a loud groan from him as he broke the kiss. He stared at her with lust driven passion. She tilted her head back as she started to ride him. His hands held her closer to him and he nipped at her neck, kissing and sucking the spot until she cried out passionately. She met his mouth with hers and their tongues danced. She slowly pushed him so he was lying down again and his hands moved to her hips. She continued to ride him harder, enjoying making him groan. He reached up to caress the peaks of her breasts and she increased her pace as she cried out.

"Catherine…" Loki groaned. "Let me hold you…" he said. Catherine pushed his hands back down her body and to the bed itself. She rested her hands on his chest and rode him harder. She rocked herself back and forth on him drawing loud moans from him as he watched the display before his eyes. Eventually he tired of laying down and sat up again, wrapping his arms around her and latching his mouth onto her left breast, sucking it hard, biting and tasting the soft flesh above her heart. Catherine let out a scream as he did that, one hand holding his head to her breast and the other hand reaching downwards between them. Well if he was going to play dirty… then so would she.

Loki tipped his head back and groaned louder than before as Catherine's hand reached between them and touched his balls ever so gently. She stroked him softly but nimbly, her fingers causing his breathing to suddenly become shallow. Catherine groaned missing the feeling of his mouth on her breast. "Loki… please, suck my breast..." she murmured sexily. "I need to feel your tongue on me."

Loki took the other peak in his mouth and gave it the same treatment. Catherine held his head there as her other hand pleasured him under her rocking movements. A light sheen of sweat covered their bodies as they drew closer to their climax. Catherine removed her hand from him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. In turn Loki pulled away from her breasts and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her mouth hotly.

"Come, Catherine…" Loki murmured against her lips. "Come for me."

Catherine gasped against his lips. "I'm so close…" she whispered as she thrust against him. She gasped louder when one of Loki's hands trailed down to her centre and flicked her. She mewled when he began to stroke her. She bit her lip as the pleasure began to build up. She stared into Loki's eyes lovingly as she finally came, burying her head into his neck as he emptied himself inside her.

They both sat there breathing heavily and caressing her other's damp skin. Catherine slowly raised her head and Loki kissed her sweetly. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him back languidly. She pulled away as she needed to breathe again. Loki gently stroked her hips.

"Just think after tomorrow, we can be like this all the time…" Loki smirked.

"Well, not all the time…" Catherine playfully corrected. "There will need to be some ruling…"

Loki laughed. "Well yes but in the evenings when it's just you and me… we can live without fear of anyone hunting us down," he said speaking softly. "We can together properly and how we want."

Catherine smiled gently, caressing his hair. "That sounds lovely," she said and kissed his lips. "Now I'm a little thirsty, shall we see what Stark has to drink around here?" she asked getting off his lap and sliding her nightgown over her naked body. She turned to go to the door but stopped and watched as Loki slipped on his sleep pants. She grinned at their unspoken decision to forego underwear for the night. Catherine had a feeling they'd be making the most out of tonight again.

Catherine stepped out into a hallway, Loki following her and slipping an arm around her waist. They slowly made their way to the large lounge and bar area. Loki led her over to Stark's bar and guided her to a stool as he stepped behind the bar and produced two glasses. He produced a bottle of champagne before filling both glasses with it. He smirked over the bar at her.

"Humans like drinking this to celebrate," he said. "So let's celebrate early," he said handing her a glass. She took it and rose it to his with a grin, clinking it.

"To victory," she said before taking a sip. She raised her eyebrows at the exquisite taste.

"To our new kingdom," Loki replied with a grin and took a swig. He swirled it about in his mouth before swallowing it with a smile. "Not bad; definitely better than the beer Thor likes so much."

"Well we are a bit more refined than Thor," Catherine chuckled before taking another sip.

Loki chuckled at that before sobering up. "Speaking of Thor, where did you leave him?"

"In the fields," said Catherine. "I walked for a few hours and he didn't follow me. I checked."

"So he could be anywhere," mused Loki. "I bet he's meeting up with those blasted Avengers."

"So what if he is?" shrugged Catherine. "I told him to stay away. If he doesn't, he'll just get toasted with the rest of them."

Loki frowned. "Why did you tell him to stay away?" he asked suspiciously.

Catherine paused, mid sip. "I... I just thought since… since he was your brother and all… maybe I should just give him a chance to leave this planet behind and go home." She looked up at him in worry, seeing the darkening frown on his face. "Was that too merciful?"

Loki watched her for a moment longer before shrugging and shaking his head. "It matters not. As long as Earth is ours, I care little for what he does." He took a long swig of the champagne.

Catherine took an uneasy swig before looking out the window and admiring the view. She heard Loki move around the bar until he was standing behind her. She felt him wrap an arm around her waist as he raised the glass to his lips and sipped the drink. She felt him kiss her head and she smiled a little, sipping her drink again. The pair of them looked out over Manhattan for quite some time.

XMARVELX

Two hours later, Catherine and Loki were curled up together on the sofa. Loki lay on his side, propping himself up on the arm of the sofa with his elbow and Catherine was also on her side in front of him, back against his chest. His hands caressed her softly. The hand of the arm propping himself up was gently stroking Catherine's hair whilst the other was wandering teasingly around her thigh. Catherine's breathing hitched a little as he trailed his fingers up, pulling the material too.

"Loki…" she whispered and he smiled into her hair as he let his fingers push the material past her hips. He then lowered his fingers to her centre and gently brushed her. He chuckled as she let out a gasping breath. "Loki…" she repeated as his fingers began to move against her.

She moved a hand to cover his, encouraging his fingers to touch her as her gasps and moans began to increase. She bucked her hips into his hands as she moaned. "Loki…" she murmured. "Loki, faster… please… more…" she said as his fingers continued to play with her. She purred as Loki's fingers moved roughly over her, touching her, teasing her and rubbing her. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back moaning loudly. She let out a deep moan when his finger slipped inside her.

"Say my name…" Loki murmured sexily in her ear. "Say my name… beg me to give you release…" he murmured thrusting his finger inside her. "Tell me what you want…"

Catherine moaned and gasped in delight as his fingers worked their magic on her centre. As his forefinger probed her insides, his thumb and other fingers played with her clit. She practically wept with pleasure as he did this to her.

"Loki," she gasped. "Oh Loki… Loki please… " she murmured as his fingers increased their pace. A second finger slid into her and she bit her lip to muffle a scream which came out loud anyway. "Loki, please… Loki… I need… oh" she gasped as Loki shoved his fingers in and out of her. "Loki, please…" she begged. "Finish me… please…."

Loki began trailing kisses down her neck. "Of course…" he murmured. He sat them both up so she was in his lap and brought a second hand to her centre. He began to massage her there, sliding another finger into her. She cried out in bliss, leaning her head back against his shoulder as her hips bucked against his hand. A few minutes passed before Catherine came in his arms, releasing powerfully and collapsing with her back against his chest. Loki's hands trailed up to her breasts as she recovered, lightly squeezing them. She whimpered at the contact.

They sat like that for a few minutes before Catherine noticed the steadily hardening bulge beneath her bottom. She turned to look at Loki who was eyeing her lustily. He got to his feet, gently pushing Catherine onto the couch and pulling his sleeping pants down. She landed on all fours before looking round confused for a moment. When Loki came to stand behind her, positioning himself behind her bottom, she grinned, knowing what he wanted. She took a moment to catch her breath before smiling.

"Take me…" she whispered. "Loki, take me."

Loki grinned. "As you wish," he said before entering her from behind roughly.

Catherine screamed in agony as pair tore through her body. She whimpered as he moved in and out of her quite fast. Tears poured down her face as the pain increased. She reached out and grabbed the back of the couch to hold herself up against the pain. She cried out painfully again and again. Loki was grunting her name over and over, seemingly oblivious to the pain he was causing Catherine. Catherine bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain but she found that she couldn't.

"Loki… Loki stop!" she cried. He was groaning loudly now, too loudly to hear her. Catherine bit back more tears and finally tilted her head back and shouted, "STOP!"

Loki came to a stop in shock, hands gripping her hips tightly. "What?" he asked.

Catherine felt tears slide down her face again. "You're hurting me…" she said softly. "It hurts so much… I can't stand it."

She felt him pull out and she slipped onto the couch, huddling her knees to her chest. He sat slowly next to her, pulling her onto his lap. She turned to face him and crawled the remainder of the way into his lap. His arms wrapped around her instantly and she looked up into his face to see a rather bewildered expression. He looked down at her and she saw guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Catherine," he said quietly. "I didn't realise…. Gods, that must have felt like I was rap-" he began but Catherine touched his lips with her fingers.

"No… I know you weren't… but I didn't expect it to hurt so much." She told him sadly.

"I was too rough… it was our first time trying it that way…" Loki said. "I shouldn't have tried it."

"It wasn't your fault, Loki. We would have eventually tried it that way," said Catherine. She snuggled up to him. "But… I'd rather not try again."

Loki held her closer. "No," he said. "We won't… not if you don't want us to. I don't want to put you through that pain again."

Catherine sank gratefully against his shoulder. "I'm sorry Loki."

"Don't be sorry…" Loki said quietly. "It can't be helped." Catherine sat against him for a few minutes feeling a little wretched before she looked up at Loki who met her gaze quizzically. "What's up?"

Catherine smiled a little. "You will be in a minute," she said before reaching down and taking his member in her hand gently. She watched Loki tilt his head back in pleasure. She leant in and kissed around his throat sensually.

"Catherine, you don't have to…" Loki murmured.

"Oh I want to," she murmured. "Tell me you don't this," she whispered against his throat. "Say it and I'll stop…" she said sweeping her tongue along his neck. Loki's hand immediately cupped the back of her head and held here there as he closed his eyes.

"No…" he growled. "Don't' stop…" he told her huskily. She stroked him harder and smoother as she nibbled down his neck and collarbone. He grunted at her touch and bucked his hips into her hand. She quickened her pace and Loki groaned loudly. She smirked against his lips and trailed her lips down his chest kissing and biting his nipples playfully. Loki's hips bucked even more against her hands making her chuckle. He let out something akin to a gaspy whine when she completely stepped away from him and relinquished her hold on him. He looked up at her torn and desperate for her touch. "Catherine," he grunted, his voice heavy with need. "I need you to touch me…"

Catherine knelt down between his legs and grinned up at him. "Oh I'm going to touch you" she murmured before leaning in and licking the tip of his member gently. Loki thrust his hips up towards her face and she chuckled before taking him in her mouth. She groaned around him, sending vibrations up and down him. She stroked the insides of his thigh as she moved her mouth hotly on him. He was visibly shuddering, his hands coming to rest on her head, holding her there.

"Catherine, keep going… oh your mouth feels so hot…" he groaned, thrusting his hips upwards. As she moved her tongue and teeth against him she felt his body quake and knew he was close.

She pulled her mouth back and gently blew on him before taking him back in her mouth. That did it for him and he came heavily in her mouth, his hips thrusting upwards at a maddening pace. Catherine closed her eyes as she swallowed him before waiting for him to still his movements. She pulled back from him and climbed into his lap, exhausted. His arms caught her and after a few moments catching their breath, they just lay there together.

Half an hour passed before Loki got up, picking Catherine up in his arms, stepping out of his fallen pants and wandering naked across the lounge to the hallway leading to the bedroom.

Once they got to the bedroom, he lay Catherine in bed where she'd been before and made to cover her up. She sat up before he could and removed her nightgown, tossing it aside before lying back and letting him tuck her in. He grinned as he placed a kiss on her lips.

He went to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to her.

"That was quite a night…" Catherine said, moving to snuggle up next to him. Loki wrapped his arms around her and lay on his back, exhausted and spent.

"Today has been amazing…" he whispered against her hair. "But tomorrow is going to be divine…"

**Author's Note: **That was a weird chapter…. Oh well, only a few more chapters before this story finishes


	33. The Battle has begun

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirty-Two_

Morning came quickly and with it, the prospect of a new day. After getting showered (together and therefore distracted) and dressed Catherine and Loki made their way to the lounge for breakfast and last minute strategies. As they sat together, sipping their drinks, they watched as the sun rose higher and higher over the Manhattan skyline.

"So the Tessaract will be able to open the Portal soon? What do we do when it does?" Catherine asked as she nibbled on some toast.

"Well I shall monitor the army's progress from here. I may join the fight later but I do need to guard the Tessaract for a while too," Loki shrugged as he took a bite of an apple.

Catherine glanced out the window. "Is there anything you want me to do?" she asked.

"I want you to be safe," Loki told her sincerely. "Any chance you'd stay here with me?"

Catherine smiled, touched by his words. "And do nothing to help?" she asked. "I will if you insist but I thought I might be of some help. Not to mention I need to find Agent Romanoff."

"I'm sure she'll try coming for me at some point," said Loki. "But I won't force you to stay. If you'd rather give those Avengers a good kicking then by all means do so." He smirked across the table at her. "In fact I must admit the thought of you doing so is a pleasing image."

"Well there's no rush is there?" Catherine compromised. "How about I stay with you and we wait the Avengers out and if they make no moves, we both seek them out and take them by surprise?"

"There is the matter of the Tessaract to guard," said Loki.

"Erik's been looking after it for a few weeks now. I'm sure he can handle a few more hours," Catherine pointed out. "We could fight together like the team we are and kick the spirits and the blood out of those supposed superheroes. Have you got the fake Tessaract yet?" Catherine asked over a sip of her drink.

"Yes," Loki smirked. "I've layered it in power from the real thing as well. I'm going to tell them I've duplicated it and I've used the second one to power the portal. That way they can leave with the fake and once they have…"

"You'll close the portal and keep the army," grinned Catherine. "How long will the fake last?"

"A year or two perhaps…" Loki chuckled. "Quite a generous amount of time if I do say so myself…"

"Yes, considering you're conning them," Catherine chuckled.

"Exactly," Loki laughed.

"So what do you say to us both joining the battle today?" she asked.

Loki chuckled. "I say I hope there's enough Avengers to go round."

XMARVELX

It was almost noon when Loki heard the sound of engines cutting through the noise of the city traffic. He looked up from where he and Catherine were sat on the sofa awaiting Erik's confirmation that the portal was opened. Casting a knowing glance at Catherine, Loki rose off the leather loveseat and proceeded to the door leading out onto the balcony of Stark Tower. Standing in the doorway, he looked up towards the roof as he stepped out. He could hear voices up ahead; one of them was Erik's and the other voice belonged to none other than Tony Stark himself. Loki glanced back inside and turned to Catherine. A smirk lit up his face.

"Go to the bedroom and stay there until I deal with him," he told her quietly without making his voice carry. "There's no need for him to know you're here. Let's toy with him, shall we?"

Catherine smirked at him as she stood up. Loki could tell what she was thinking. _Typical Loki, God of Mischief, always being playful... _So what if he was? He needed to get his kicks somehow from what would be an easy battle for his Chitauri forces. He waited until Catherine had retreated into the hallway and vanished from sight, before he stepped back outside onto the roof.

A loud thunderous noise shook the air around them and Loki looked up. The Tessaract had shot a streak of light up to the sky. Loki began to smirk knowingly. The portal was about to open; the Chitauri would be here very soon. Loki turned a little and saw Stark descending onto the higher platform of the balcony. Immediately machines began working to remove his armour of. He was glaring at Loki who just smirked back before walking back inside the apartment, ready to meet Stark.

He was curious as to why the other man was removing his armour; was he really that confident or was he just stupid? Perhaps he was both, Loki mused to himself. He wandered through the lounge as Stark entered the apartment from the other side of the room.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity?" Loki grinned in amusement.

Stark folded his hands behind his back and turned to face Loki. "Actually I'm planning to threaten you," he informed him casually.

Loki smirked. "You should have left your armour on for that."

Stark nodded. "Yeah… It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glow stick of destiny." Stark conceded sarcastically, irritating Loki as he said so. "Would you like a drink?" he asked as he approached the bar, as Loki glanced at the sceptre.

Loki looked up at him in disdainful amusement. "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no, threatening," Stark corrected him. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one," he said as he began to get glasses out.

Loki turned around impatiently and walked over to the window. "The Chitauri are coming; nothing will change that," he announced. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers," Stark said simply. When Loki simply looked at him, Stark shrugged his shoulders. "It's what we call ourselves; sort of like a team "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" type of thing."

"Yes," Loki smiled. "I've met them."

"Yeah," Stark laughed coldly. "Takes us a while to get any traction on you with that one but let's do a headcount here; your brother, the demigod, super solider and living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breath taking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off each and every single one of them."

Loki grinned at his nemesis. "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan," Stark said simply. "When they come and they will; they'll come for you." He began to approach Loki, drink in hand.

"I have an army." Loki simply stated.

"We have a Hulk," Stark retorted.

"Oh I thought the beast had wandered off," said Loki.

"He wouldn't be the only thing that wandered off, would he?" Stark countered. "We've seen the CCTV footage. We know what happened to Catherine. Fell 30,000 feet to her death along with Thor. Do you want to know the most interesting part of that scenario?" Stark grinned a little. "You made it happen; you killed your own girlfriend just to get rid of your brother."

Loki forced anger and his earlier grief to the front of his consciousness. "That was not planned."

Stark laughed. "Awww I bet it wasn't. No one to warm your bed at night anymore? No Queen for your new kingdom? That's a shame but they do say karma's a bitch. Anyway you're missing the point. There's no throne; there's no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you." Stark looked very cold now. "Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." He told Loki darkly.

Loki's eyes darkened. "How will your friends have time for me?" he asked. "When they're so busy fighting you," he said as he approached and brought the sceptre to Stark's chest. There was a small clink as the sceptre collided with something metal and the power died in the tip. Loki's eyes narrowed in confusion. "This usually works," he muttered after he tried again; once again nothing.

Stark shrugged. "Performance issues, not uncommon," he muttered. "One out of five."

Loki's eyes flashed with rage as he remembered the incident with Catherine the night before. He reached up, grabbing Stark's throat and tossed him across the room viciously. As the man started to get up, Loki marched over and grabbed him by the throat again. "You will all fall before me," he snarled. He heard Stark mutter something about deploy but he paid no attention to that as he tossed the man out of the window. He turned around as something exploded out of the elevator, sending Loki diving to the side as it crashed out the window after Stark.

Loki picked himself up and got to his feet. He heard footsteps coming from the bedroom and turned to see Catherine running in from the hallway. She looked at him panicked before quickly throwing herself behind the bar when the sounds of engines approached the window again. Loki turned back to the window as Stark appeared in another suit.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," said Stark. "His name was Phil," he said before sending a blast from his hand that sent Loki flying across the room before Loki could use the sceptre.

The light from the Tessaract began to emit a force that started to unpeel the sky revealing a cosmic space above. Stark was looking at that before he shot off into the sky. Meanwhile Catherine got up and ran to Loki, kneeling by his side. "Are you alright?" she asked anxiously, her eyes full of fear.

Loki sat up and looked at her, his hand briefly cupping the back of her head. "I'm fine," he said. "But we can't hang around here. We need to take out the Avengers." Catherine nodded at his words and he stroked her hair. "Go and find the Avengers; do what you can to keep them busy," he said. "They won't expect you, they think you're dead." He told her firmly, watching her nod. He kept hold of her hair tightly. "Do what you can but come back alive…" he said looking into her eyes seriously. She nodded once more and brought a hand to his face before crashing her lips against his. He murmured against her lips before pulling away.

She got to her feet and ran to the upper balcony where she stood on the edge for a moment and flagged down a Chitauri cruiser. She jumped on the back and it zoomed off again.

XMARVELX

Loki walked out onto the upper balcony, magic making his armour replace his usual attire. He looked out over the city as the Chitauri forces ran wild over it; destroying all in their path. The sounds of the humans screaming made for wonderful music to his ears. He turned around slightly taking it all in. A loud thump sounded on the balcony near him but he didn't turn until he heard the familiar voice.

"Loki!" Thor called out. "Turn off the Tessaract or I'll destroy it," he threatened.

"You can't, there is no stopping it," Loki growled, pointing his sceptre at Thor.

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?" Thor asked. "Not only to this city but to your future and Catherine's?" he asked furiously. "Look what you've turned her into; a killer!" he thundered.

"I turned her into nothing," smirked Loki. "She has done everything for me and I for her. She will be a most excellent Queen. There is nothing you can do about it. There is only, the war."

"So be it," Thor growled.

Loki leapt down, shield out only to be met with Thor's hammer. The two began to fight hard on the lower balcony, their weapons clashing loudly. Loki forced Thor backwards across the balcony as he unleashed his anger at his brother through his attack. Thor fought back fiercely, wielding his hammer in powerful strokes against the sceptre. Loki ducked one of Thor's attacks and grabbed him, forcing his brother's face down to the ground only to be thrown back by Thor's elbow.

As the pair of them fought, one of the S.H.I.E.L.D hovercrafts began to approach them. Loki continued his assault on Thor, attacking him and forcing him to the ground again briefly. Loki then turned and fired a blast at the hovercraft, damaging it. Thor soon tackled him and soon they were throwing punches and physically grabbing each other's shoulders and necks to cause pain. The hovercraft was falling from the skies much to Loki's pleasure.

A loud roar came from the heavens as a huge reptilian metal creature glided through the atmosphere. It began to swing around the buildings, destroying parts of them as it followed the Chitauri cruisers. Even more panic spread about the city as its tail lashed out, causing destruction everywhere it went. The amount of screaming increased tenfold. Out of the corner of his eye, Loki could see Iron Man flying around trying to fight the Chitauri.

"_Look around you!_" Thor yelled at Loki. "Do you think this madness will end with your rule?" he demanded, shaking Loki some more.

Loki was breathing heavily. "It's too late!" he hissed. "It's too late to stop it," he said regret in his tone as he said it quietly.

Thor's face softened. "No, we can, together," he said. Loki's face softened slightly too before a nasty expression crossed his face, a hand summoned one of his daggers which he thrust into Thor's side. Thor grunted in pain and Loki pushed him to the floor with disgust.

"Sentiment," Loki muttered.

That didn't stop Thor from reaching up and yanking Loki's arm back before pulling the sceptre out of his grip and kicking his brother to the ground. He marched forwards and lifted Loki up above his head and body slammed him onto the broken glass beneath him. Loki hit the floor hard and looked up briefly. His body ached a fair bit. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and he rolled over and off the building. The fall was fast but he landed on the vacant mid flight Chitauri cruiser with ease, sitting up and grabbing the controls, wondering where Catherine was.

XMARVELX

Catherine was thankful that she had been captured by the Chitauri in the last few weeks now since it meant they knew her face and knew not to fight her. She hung onto the Chitauri driver and looked around the city for any sign of the Avengers. She picked up the Chitauri driver's spear-gun and began firing it at some of the civilian police cars. She doubted they'd do much but this was a battle and she ought to fight. She looked around her for any sign of Iron Man.

Sure enough he flew into her line of sight and she shouted for the Chitauri driver to follow him. She fired blasts at Iron Man but he dodged them easily. She clung on tightly as the cruiser ducked to follow his flight patterns. Some concentrated fire flew past her and she looked around to see a S.H.I.E.L.D hovercraft following them, just above them. She turned back to the driver.

"Dip low, slow us down," she said. She gripped the sides of the cruiser tightly as the ship slowed down and dipped. She watched the cruiser move ahead of them. "Follow it," she said and they picked up pace again. They flew after the cruiser, Catherine fired shots at it doing mild damage. They flew up higher as the cruiser began to pass by Stark Tower. Catherine's heart jumped into her mouth as she saw what the cruiser was hovering around. It was Thor and Loki fighting on the tower. Immediately Catherine concentrated her fire on the cruiser. She glanced down at the tower as more Chitauri cruisers came to fire at the hovercraft. Coincidentally Loki spotted the craft and fired a blast from the sceptre at the craft. It must have been a well placed hit because it did a lot of damage.

Catherine instructed the Chitauri cruisers to back away from the craft as it struggled to keep in flight. It began a descent to the ground and Catherine had to look away from Stark Tower, ordering the Chitauri to follow the falling cruiser to the ground. They followed it, watching as the cruiser damaged several buildings before eventually crashing to the streets.

The Chitauri driver pulled up, hovering over the wreckage as Catherine looked down. Captain America, Hawkeye and Agent Romanoff came out. Damn, they'd lost Barton again, Catherine noted before smirking down at Agent Romanoff. Time to play. She took the Chitauri weapon with her and nodded to the driver before leaping off the craft and landing in a crouch on the streets. The three Avengers turned around to face her, weapons raised. Catherine grinned at them.

"I thought you were dead," Captain America said in surprise.

"Guess I'm just lucky," Catherine snarled, her eyes on Agent Romanoff. "We have some unfinished business, you and I, Natasha."

Natasha turned to the others. "Go and help the civilians, I'll deal with this," she said with a small smile. Barton and Captain America paused for a moment before running off.

Catherine sneered at this. "Got them well trained haven't you?" she asked, as she faced the assassin.

"You can talk; Loki's practically your lapdog. He'd do anything for you," Natasha scoffed raising her guns at Catherine.

"Oh that's true. He knew how much I wanted to be the one to kill you, after everything you did," Catherine growled as she raised her sceptre. She fired a blast just as Natasha fired both of her guns.

The blast caught the bullet but Natasha had moved faster and was already leaping at Catherine through the air firing at her again. Catherine moved quickly, her copy taking the blasts as she appeared behind Catherine and swung the spear-gun at her back, sending the spy crashing to the ground. Catherine touched Natasha's thigh with the spear and an electric jolt went through the agent's body causing her to writhe in pain.

"My turn," Catherine said with a grin as she pulled out one of the syringes from her pocket and injected it into the spy's spine


	34. Asgardian vs Black Widow

**Souls**

_Chapter Thirty Three_

**Okay so just to be safe, this chapter's rated M too for violence**

Natasha screamed as Catherine thrust the syringe into her back. Catherine took great pleasure in watching the spy roll onto her back before writhing in pain, her back arching in agony. Catherine raised the spear again and sent another bolt of electricity through Natasha. It wasn't enough to kill her but it would hurt like hell. She leant down and grabbed Natasha's neck, dragging her up to her feet slowly. "Time for a taste of your own _medicine_ I should think," she spat angrily. "Think yourself lucky you're not tied down as I was."

The sound of racing footsteps caught Catherine's ear, she turned around to see Barton running at her, his face alive with a violent rage. Raising the spear, she sent him flying backwards into Captain America. She then hit Natasha around the head with the spear, knocking her out. She took hold of the woman around the waist with both arms, keeping hold of the spear. She looked up and whistled to one of the Chitauri cruisers. When one flew low, she jumped onto it.

"Stark Tower," she said as they flew off. She wanted privacy for what she was going to put Romanoff through and she couldn't do that with the other Avengers around. She kept an arm around the unconscious agent and used her spear to blast any threats to their cruiser away. Within minutes the cruiser was approaching the tower. As they lowered onto it, Catherine jumped off with Agent Romanoff over her shoulder. She carried her into the apartment and looked around. No one was around so that meant Loki had joined the fight already. She wondered where Thor was. She lay Natasha on the hard floor and waited for her to wake up. Ideally she should have had more time to process the pain before she had to be knocked out but she had time to spare now.

A few minutes passed and Natasha groaned as she woke up. She instantly opened her eyes, spotted Catherine and jumped to her feet flexibly. Catherine stepped back getting in fight position before hearing Natasha cry out in pain as the serum continued to inflict its effects on the spy.

"You bitch," Natasha growled.

"You're one to talk," Catherine spat.

Natasha leapt faster than Catherine expected her to given her state. She leapt through the air and brought her right leg in a swift kick to Catherine's head. Catherine was knocked sideways, her face aching before she hit the floor. Catherine made to get up but Natasha had hold of her hair and smashed her face into the floor painfully. Blood gushed from Catherine's nose and the pain stung her face horribly. She felt her face shoved into the floor again making her dizzy.

Catherine felt her leg being pulled back. She realised what was about to happen if she didn't move quickly. Natasha was trying to disable her so she couldn't move. Retrieving the second syringe from her pocket, Catherine stabbed it backwards slightly awkwardly but violently. It hit its target, Natasha's arm because the spy backed off with a yell. Rolling over, Catherine kicked out at the other woman's legs and sent her to the floor.

Catherine jumped up and turned to face the spy who was writhing in pain as the second serum advanced the pain of the first as well as adding its own. She stood up and backed off. "Now it's my turn to watch you suffer," she said.

Natasha was crying out in pain but she glared up at Catherine. "You think you're so tough don't you? That you're so cold, vengeful and cruel?" she said before balancing on her back and elbows, propelling both legs forward so that they caught Catherine off guard and sent her back through the glass door leading out to the balcony. "You can put me through as much pain as you want but I'll still kick your ass, Asgardian." Natasha jumped to her feet and produced a gun, pointing it at Catherine. Her breath was heaving as she was clearly in visible pain from the serum but she was obviously right about being able to handle it, much to Catherine's annoyance.

The words hit Catherine hard as she lay in a pile of glass, the name for her race resounding in her ears. _Asgardian_. That was what she was and yet she was letting a human beat her up? She looked up, her eyes fired up with rage. She could feel the adrenaline pumping away at her. It was time to really put Sif's training to good use. She picked herself up but froze when she saw the gun. She smirked a little at Natasha. "Go on, I can tell you want to," she said. "You've tortured me, I tortured you… it was bound to come full circle. Go on, kill me in cold blood and I'll know that you humans really are the monsters." Catherine twisted her hand and clenched her fist as she balanced herself. She knew she shouldn't be talking like this, after all the grief she'd given Loki for giving up on life. But she wasn't going to give up on life. No way in hell would she put Loki through that again.

Natasha sneered. "So bullets can kill you."

Catherine laughed sourly. "Guess you'll have to find out, won't you?"

"You're not going to talk me down by appealing to my better nature," sneered Natasha. "I was a killer long before I met you."

"I don't need to talk you down," said Catherine. "I just needed you to talk." Natasha's eyes narrowed as Catherine jumped to her feet. Immediately she pulled the trigger, the gun facing Catherine's neck.

Nothing happened and Natasha had to jump back quickly to avoid Catherine colliding with her as she leapt for her. Natasha fell back in a crouch near the sofa whilst Catherine landed with a hand on the spear-gun. As Catherine raised it to fire, Natasha jumped over the sofa, panting with the pain of the serum. The blast went straight to Tony's bar making it explode. The bits and pieces flew over Natasha's head. She sat up and fired shots at Catherine who dodged them and fired back at Natasha.

"You know, for someone nicknamed after a poisonous spider, you have yet to kill me," Catherine taunted. She jumped onto the coffee table and fired a blast at Natasha who rolled away and fired a bullet into the glass table, sending Catherine to the floor. Catherine immediately duplicated herself. Two versions of herself appeared beside the Black Widow. Natasha immediately fired a bullet at the Catherine on the coffee table only to be momentarily confused when that one disappeared.

The Catherine on the left head butted Natasha at the same time as the one on the right causing her to stagger backwards. The Catherine on the right then grabbed the guns and turned, tossing them out the room and over the balcony with an impressive throw. Natasha immediately threw herself at the Catherine on the right only to fall through her, straight onto the floor of broken glass.

The last remaining Catherine grinned and stepped hard on Natasha's back before producing the third and final syringe and injecting her with it. Natasha screamed as her pain intensified. Catherine knelt down, putting more weight on Natasha's back.

"Oh by the way, I intensified the poison in that dose with my magic so you can expect to die a particularly painful death in the next ten minutes," she said smirking. She stamped hard on Natasha's lower back and walked back out onto the balcony.

She looked out at the chaos and spotted Loki flying past on a Chitauri cruiser being chased by Iron Man and, a little further behind, the Hulk. She frowned and looked downwards seeing a cruiser coming along. A blast knocked the driver off it and Catherine took her chance, diving downwards and landed on the cruiser. Taking the controls, she grinned and made her way downtown after Loki.

She began her transformation as she drove faster and faster. Loki might be able outrun them but she still felt like she should try and take some heat off his back. She started firing at the Hulk and a few blasts caught his back. She veered away just as he spotted her and leapt for her. She could feel the impact of him hitting the nearest building from a little ways away. He really was that strong. She could feel him jumping from building to building and following her. She caught a glimpse of the green cape flowing behind her and felt the presence of the metal horns on her head and grinned even more.

_Showtime_

XMARVELX


	35. Blood and Death

**Author's Note: **Wow some none Loki or Catherine POV's to start off with? Weird…

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirty-Four_

Natasha began crawling to the elevator as quickly as she could with the pain and injuries sustained from Catherine's attack. Each movement racked her body with new pains and aches but she couldn't let that stop her. She reached the elevator and moved to her back. Her spine hurt like hell but it wasn't broken, she was sure of that. She kicked up with her leg and summoned the elevator. When it arrived she dragged herself it and kicked the button for the roof before relaxing slightly.

The trip to the top was shorter than she'd thought it would be and she was soon crawling out onto a painfully stony rooftop. The Tessaract loomed over her and she looked around, spotting Erik Selveig not far off. He was watching her cautiously and suspiciously as he moved forwards towards her. She feigned collapsing completely on the floor and lay still for a few minutes.

When she heard him stop next to her, she grabbed his leg and tripped him up, forcing him on his back. Crawling up to him, she grabbed his head and used her other hand to hit him hard. She didn't want to knock his head against the stone in case it killed him and he was Thor's friend.

He cried out in pain and rolled over in agony before slowly picking himself up. He looked round at her and she saw to her relief that his eyes were no longer blue. "Selveig," she said. "You're out of the mind control right?"

He looked confused. "What are you talking about? Who are you? What the hell am I-?" he began but realisation dawned on him. "Loki… he… turned my mind didn't he?"

Natasha nodded. "Yes, you and Barton's. There was nothing you could have done."

Erik looked pained for a moment. "I caused this. The Tessaract… you can't fight… you can't protect yourselves…" he said.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing," Natasha told him.

"Actually, I think I did," said Selveig. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."

Natasha's eyes widened. "Loki's sceptre…" She hit her earpiece immediately. "Agent Barton, Stark, Rogers… anyone" she called. "Get to Stark Tower. Get the sceptre. It can cut the Tessaract's power. I've been compromised, I can't get down there."

"What happened to you?" Barton's voice was worried.

"I'm a bit hurt but I'll live," said Natasha. "I'm with Erik Selveig, he's out of Loki's control."

"Alright keep him there and stay safe," Barton said.

Erik frowned. "I can get the sceptre."

"No," said Natasha. "There's no need exposing yourself to Loki whilst on the edge of a building. Stay here and he'll think you're still under his control."

XMARVELX

Barton was on the edge of a building, scanning for a familiar figure. "Stark, you anywhere near your tower?" he asked as he fired an arrow at a Chitauri ship, blowing it up.

"Sure, what do you need?" Stark's voice sounded in his ear.

"I need to get the sceptre to Natasha."

"I can do that." Stark told him.

"No, take me, your tower has a vantage point I can use to protect the Tessaract and Natasha and Selveig," Barton insisted.

"Be there in a second," Stark said before ending the communication call.

Barton waited, keeping out of the way of fire. He shot another arrow off before spotting the Iron suit coming towards him. Turning his back, he felt Stark grab him by the shoulders and carry him towards the tower. Being in the air like this was both exhilarating and terrifying but it wasn't for long as Stark dropped him on the balcony and took off into the air again, hovering.

"Get that thing shut off as fast as you can!" Stark told him. "By the way," he added. "You're almost out of arrows. Floor 7," he said.

"What's floor 7?" Barton asked, confused.

"Archery practice," was all Stark said before flying off.

Barton picked up the sceptre and ran inside to the elevator. He hit the button for floor 7 and quickly made his way down there. The room was full of bows, arrows, targets and anything else he could have dreamt of. He grinned a little at the high tech of some of the equipment. He made his way over to some quivers and strapped three of them to him. He returned to the elevator and headed up to the roof without delay.

XMARVELX

Catherine felt the Hulk gaining on her so she turned the cruiser sharply and disappeared down a few streets. She saw Stark Tower coming up again and rose to head to the top. As she neared, she saw Erik Selveig cowered in a corner whilst Natasha was slowly getting to her feet. Catherine glared at the sight. How many times would this woman keep getting back up again? She then spotted someone else stepping out onto the roof. A man all in black, Barton, was making his way across the roof, holding the sceptre. He was extending it to Natasha.

Changing back to her normal appearance, Catherine growled and brought the cruiser to a level that was just above the Tessaract. She readied herself and once she was heading over them, she leapt off the cruiser and onto the roof, right on top of Barton who she knocked face first to the floor. She leapt up, snatched the sceptre and jumped off him, advancing on Natasha with a maddening look in her eyes. "I'm getting sick of trying to kill you!" she hissed menacingly at her. As Natasha reached for a weapon, Catherine grabbed her neck with her free hand and summoning her magic, used it to throw the agent high into the air and off the roof where she fell fast and furiously through the air, thousands of feet to her death.

XMARVELX

The only scream on the air was that of Barton's as he picked himself off and ran at Catherine. She turned and knocked him back before using her magic to summon her cruiser back to her. She jumped on it and turned to Selveig, noting his eyes. "You're lucky I have bigger fish to fry," she said angrily and flew off.

Barton brought out his bow and arrow furiously, firing off at least three which all missed in his rage and grief over Natasha. He lowered his bow and ran to the side of the room looking over it desperately, pain in his eyes.

"I don't think she would have made it, son," Erik said gently. "Everyone else is tied up in the fight; you can hear it from here."

Barton turned round and slumped to the ground, a hand covering his face in despair. He couldn't believe it. His Natasha, gone, just like that… The Black Widow, who he had never imagined would die, was killed in a blink of an eye. He took a shaky breath trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. He couldn't take the thought of her being dead. He couldn't believe it. He felt like such a child wishing for all this to be a nightmare so he could wake up.

He heard footsteps move towards him and he looked up to see Erik looking down at him.

"Grieve for her later. Get her killer first." Erik said firmly.

Barton looked up in bewilderment before his face hardened and he nodded, getting to his feet and readying his bow, loading an explosive arrow in it. If Catherine crossed his path, he was going to enjoy blowing her face off with this arrow.

XMARVELX

Catherine had the sceptre with her now and whilst holding it, she resumed her disguise, feeling the heavy horns on her head and the cape flap behind her. If she could distract some of the Avengers from Loki, confuse them a little, they could win this battle sooner. She turned down some of the streets and fired at some of the civilian rescue services, causing more chaos in the streets.

An almighty roar followed her and she looked behind to see the Hulk, jumping from building to building, chasing her. She picked up her speed and turned another street, finding herself drawn back towards Stark Tower. She continued at full speed, waiting for a last moment to turn. She slowly began to turn the vehicle when suddenly she felt something coming towards her very fast and very close. Instinctively she brought her hand up and caught whatever it was in her hand. It was an arrow. Looking up, she could see Barton staring coldly down at her before the arrow exploded in her face.

The cruiser fell to pieces and the force of the arrow sent her crashing down onto Stark Tower's balcony. She rolled over in pain, her face covered in glass, bruises and a large burn down the right side of it. She tried to pick herself up but failed.

XMARVELX

"It wasn't Catherine, it was Loki," Barton informed Erik who'd been watching eagerly. "But he's just as bad. Besides it's an eye for an eye if we can kill him. She killed Natasha, I'll kill her soulmate."

Erik watched him sympathetically. "You loved Natasha." He said simply as a statement.

Barton didn't say anything at first. "We might not have loved the same way as anyone else or dated like regular people do but then… our jobs are hardly regular. I fell in love with her the moment I decided not to kill her. I knew she was different. She wasn't meant to be a killer. She was meant to try and redeem herself. Now she never can, thanks to Loki's bitch."

XMARVELX

Catherine made another attempt to get up when she heard an almighty roar below her. She looked up to see the Hulk flying through the air towards her. She leant backwards just as he crashed into her, sending her flying across the lounge. The force of the collision sent her hurtling against the wall and landing painfully on the floor in a shower of glass.

She looked up and saw the helmet lying just ahead of her, smashed to pieces. She felt the cape over her and knew she was still in costume. She needed to act like Loki would. Picking herself up, she glared at the Hulk who was stood facing her, moving over to her, ready for another attack.

"ENOUGH!" she screamed in Loki's voice. "You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature! And I will not be bullied like a-"

She never got to finish her sentence because suddenly the Hulk lurched forwards and grabbed her leg, pulling backwards so she hit the ground hard before pulling her across the room through the air and bashing her into the floor as though she weighed nothing more than a ragdoll. The impact almost knocked her out so bad was the pain. She didn't even have time to process the pain before the Hulk swung her back over his shoulder and slammed her against the floor, not once but twice, each time, the pain making her feel like her skull was being cracked open. He pulled her back and paused for a second before doing it again and then throwing her to the side straight after. He looked down on her and sneered. "Puny God," he said before walking away.

Catherine lay there in the most unimaginable pain, wheezing slowly as she struggled to comprehend what had happened to her.

XMARVELX

Loki was rather enjoying himself as he fired shot after shot at the emergency services. His army were doing exceptionally well and he was flying through the streets, killing human after human. He could see Captain America fighting down below. Every so often he would see Iron Man attacking one of the larger creatures though he hadn't seen the others yet. He suspected Catherine would have tracked down Agent Romanoff herself which meant there was only Hulk and Hawkeye to account for. Loki would find them soon enough, he was sure of it.

As he flew down to ground level, slowing his speed to frighten the humans with his firepower as he moved through the streets, he spotted a familiar red haired figure hit the street with force. He turned the cruiser round and brought it to a hover over the figure. He looked down in shock. The figure was undeniably dead, clearly fallen from a great height. The shocked expression on her face was now frozen there forever. It was Agent Natasha Romanoff.

Loki grinned, a sense of pride in Catherine, wherever she was, for accomplishing that particular goal. He flew up towards the skyscrapers again, picking up speed. A loud roaring got his attention and he caught a glimpse of the Hulk chasing one of the Chitauri cruisers with a rage. Loki grinned even more, seeing a challenge and took off after him. As he caught up with them, he saw something shoot down at the Chitauri warrior and they seemed to catch it. Whatever it was it exploded sending them flying onto the Stark Tower balcony.

That confused Loki. Why would someone else target what the Hulk was already chasing? That was when he noticed the green cloak and gold armour on the figure as he slowed down to observe the scene. He noticed the figure trying to get up; why did that figure look so much like him? Whoever it was, their luck did not hold as the Hulk leapt up and propelled them into the apartment. Loki drove the cruiser closer and jumped off it, ducking into the shadows so the Hulk wouldn't see him. That was when he heard the figure speak.

"_ENOUGH!"_ It was exactly like his voice down to every last pronunciation. _"You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature!" _

In fact getting a good look at the figure, he looked exactly like Loki. It was like looking at one of his duplicates only Loki didn't have that particular spell in use right now. At the thought of the word spell, Loki had a horrible feeling that was beginning to grow in his stomach as he thought of who else knew magic. He could only watch in stunned silence at what happened next.

"_And I will not be bullied like a-" _The figure impersonating him didn't get to finish as the Hulk suddenly grabbed them and started throwing them about violently as though they were nothing. The assault was vicious yet only lasted seconds. The Hulk threw the figure down and stomped off towards another window, muttering something about a puny god. He then jumped out the window and landed on an opposite building.

Loki ran into the apartment and sought out the figure. They lay battered in the middle of the floor, covered in bruises and glass. As he approached, the magic began to wear off and to his horror, a bloodied, battered Catherine appeared before him. Her face was smeared with blood and barely recognisable with the bruises. She was struggling to breathe and it took her a moment to see him.

"Loki…" she gasped, her voice weaker than it had ever been before.


	36. Plans break down

**Lost Souls**

_Chapter Thirty Five_

Loki was starting to wonder how many times he would find his beloved lying injured before him when he couldn't do much except try and alleviate her suffering. He strode over to her and knelt down beside her, his fingers finding her neck and pulsing healing magic into her body. She closed her eyes, her breathing becoming a little easier visibly. Loki pressed his fingers firmer against her neck and summoned more magic to heal her. Outside he could hear the continually raging noises of battle between the Chitauri and the Avengers. Surely they couldn't hold out forever against his alien army. It would only be a matter of time before Earth was his. All he had to do was bide his time and fight though right now, getting Catherine in a stable condition was his priority. She was so bloody and bruised that she looked so frail lying there as weak as he'd ever seen her. It was truly a testament to the Hulk's force.

"Catherine," he said looking at her firmly. "Catherine, why did you do this?" he demanded. "Why did you take an attack that was meant for me?" She looked up at him, her eyes heavy and tired. For a minute Loki feared that she was too weak to speak and was going to forget the question altogether, when she finally answered in a slow raspy voice.

"I was… trying… to take… some of… the heat off…you…" she rasped. "You… had… a few… Av… Avengers… covering you… I…wanted…to…to…help…"

Loki stroked her face. "By taking a beating for me? Catherine, this was not what I would have wanted…" he said leaning in. "I would never have wanted you to be hurt like this, at all even. I knew you'd probably get hurt but not in my name."

Catherine shuddered as she felt the magic that was healing her, touch her nerves. "It wasn't… your fault… I didn't… see the… beating coming…" she said quietly. "Even… if… I had… I would… still have done it… I wanted… to protect you… would you not have…done the same… for me?"

Loki smiled a little sadly. "Yeah I probably would have but I bet you wouldn't have been happy about it either," he pointed out as he stroked her cheek.

"Probably not… I would probably have… had a go at you… for being so reckless and putting... yourself at risk or harm's way." She managed a small smile as she spoke and he also noted how she was getting more words out between gasping breaths in her speech. The magic must be healing her chest and making speech easier which meant it was making breathing easier too.

"Everything's so sore…" Catherine murmured. "But it was worth it…" she smiled at Loki. "Today will be worth it…" She took a few breaths. "I did it… I did what I set out to do… I… I killed Agent Romanoff," she said proudly. "I paid her back… for what she did to me."

Loki grinned at her obvious pride and stroked her hair before leaning in to kiss her head. "I know you did; I found her body and, Catherine, how proud of you I was. You killed one of the Avengers and a master assassin at that. I know how experienced she was." he said whispering against her head. "After what she did to you, you had every right," he told her quietly. "Besides there is always a better assassin. You were her natural predator, Catherine. It was her right to die by you."

Catherine smiled a little and looked up at him. "It means one less to worry about," she said. "How long will it be before I can fight again?" she asked.

Loki's gaze darkened and he looked down at her. "You're in no state to go back out there, Catherine. You've done enough. It wasn't even required that we fight. The Chitauri are going to run out of humans to kill long before those freaks even stand a chance."

Catherine took a shuddering breath. "Are you going back out there?" she asked.

Loki stroked her forehead. "Do you want me to? Or would you rather me stay here…?"

Catherine looked uncertain. "If you're needed out there…" she said reluctantly.

"No, the Chitauri are managing fine. I'll stay with you," Loki smiled at her. "Let's get you to bed though. You need to recover properly," he said and slowly lifted her into his arms.

He stopped as Catherine began to cry out in pain. She had her eyes shut as the movement caused her agony. He didn't move, uncertain as to what to do. Should he have moved her after all or should he have left her there? No, he couldn't leave her there for the Avengers to see especially after she'd murdered one of their own. He began to move slowly out of the room gently shushing her cries of pain as he left the lounge and made his way towards the bedroom. When he arrived he lay her down gently on the bed. Slight relief crossed her face at the softness of the bed. Loki leant over her, pressing his hand to her head, stroking it down her face, neck and chest, spreading the magic out, hoping that it would ease some of her pain faster.

XMARVELX

Barton headed to the elevator. He couldn't see Catherine anymore but he sensed that Loki was still downstairs, in the building. He could take his revenge now. He set up and arrow in his bow and walked into the elevator, his eyes dark with rage. He hit the button for the penthouse and waited for the elevator to descend slowly. As the elevator doors pinged open, Barton stepped out, bow at the ready. He looked around the room but it was clear.

Something blue caught at his eye and he spotted the sceptre lying outside on the balcony. Glancing around furtively, Barton raced out of the room as quietly as he could. Kneeling down, he managed to grip the sceptre in his hands before stepping back into the room. Footsteps began to echo from one of the hallways and Barton immediately dived behind one of the couches. The footsteps were heavy and he recognised them immediately as Loki's. That confused Barton immediately. He'd heard the Hulk making a right mess in the apartment and then leave as though his job was done. Why would he leave Loki intact?

He glanced around the couch and saw Loki approaching the bar, head down. He was pouring some water into a large glass. He's in the middle of an invasion and he stops for a drink? Barton thought quizzically but made no noise as he watched Loki fill the glass, put the water jug down and walk back into the hallway, disappearing down another corridor. Taking his chance, Barton leapt up and ran for the elevator, pressing the call button straight away. With an annoyingly loud ping he jumped through the doors and closed them, heading straight upstairs.

XMARVELX

Loki held Catherine sit up and brought the water to her lips gently. She drank some eagerly and he gently stroked her hair, urging her to slow down. "Take it easy," he whispered. "I'll bring you more if you need it," he said. "This should help your body recover with the magic. You need to keep a balance of elements inside you," he said kissing her head. He pulled the glass from Catherine's lips allowing her to breathe.

"Did I hear the elevator sound?" Catherine murmured.

Loki smiled. "Yes, twice now. I think we have a visitor. I sensed him in the room," he told her. "The sceptre was missing when I left."

Catherine's eyes widened. "You didn't grab it when you found me?"

Loki chuckled. "I was a bit worried about you, if you recall. But I don't need it that much. My power is already great and there is nothing the Avengers can do with it that can stop the Chitauri."

Catherine brought a hand up to touch the glass and Loki gently tipped it towards her lips again. She took a bigger swig of it this time and sighed, pushing the glass away. He held it away from her watching her intently. Her back seemed to be adjusting to sitting against the pillows and his arm. She didn't seem as pained as before though her frailty was without doubt.

"Before… before I killed Romanoff… Barton was handing the sceptre to her… they were up to something with the Tessaract," she said, her voiced tired.

Loki smiled bemusedly. "I don't see how they can do anything."

"They've freed Selveig," Catherine murmured.

Loki's eyes darkened. "Have they now?"

"Could he know something about the Tessaract that we don't?" Catherine asked.

Loki sat up a little straighter at that. "If he does, I'll get it out of him," he said removing his arm gently and leaning her against the pillows. "I'll return shortly," he said and left the room. As he entered the lounge, flashing lights awaited him as computer holograms loaded. He looked at the images and CCTV footage appeared in front of him.

A missile was heading towards the city of New York. Loki's eyes narrowed. Were the humans really going to blow up one of their own cities with thousands of their own people trapped in there? Was that how desperate they were? He would have to get one of the Chitauri monsters to swallow it and take it into the sky. He realised with annoyance that those instructions needed the sceptre. He turned and went to make for the roof when out of the corner of his eye, a flash of red and gold appeared on the screen. He turned back and saw that Iron Man had hold of the nuke and was redirecting it upwards… right into the heart of the Chitauri army.

Loki's eyes maddened with rage and he turned, marching to the elevator and hit the button in annoyance. The operator's voice filled the room. "_Elevator out of service._" It declared loudly. Loki hissed in anger and raised his hand to put the elevator back in service but a loud noise on the monitor made him return to the screen.

Stark was so near to the barrier between worlds that for a moment, Loki smirked briefly. Even if he managed to blow up the Chitauri, he'd take himself with it. Not that the Chitauri blowing up would be a good thing. Without his army, his plans failed. Loki scanned the control panels on the holograms. There had to be a way to disable the suit before the nuke could get to the army. A crushing thought hit Loki like a truck.

If Stark did manage to send the nuke into the Chitauri mother ship then that was the end of all his plans and his army but if he didn't then the city would blow and Loki wasn't quite sure if his genetics would survive a nuclear explosion. Then there was Catherine to think about. She definitely wouldn't survive such a blast whilst she was already healing from the Hulk thrashing she got.

Instantly a second plan began to form in his mind. He needed to get the Tessaract and if there was a way to shut it down, get it out of Selveig and kill whoever was up there with him. He then needed to get Catherine out of here and they'd travel to another world if he couldn't take this one. There was no time to curse his luck over being so close to ruling Midgard. Survival was the key.

Loki looked at the screen. Stark had disappeared with the missile and he could see him taking it higher and higher into space. He could faintly see Stark let go off the missile and begin a fall back to Earth. There was no way he could survive that so at least there was another Avenger dead, Loki thought bitterly to himself. He turned and waved his hand back at the elevator, putting it back in service. He rode it to the top. No sooner had the doors open than an arrow let fly at him. He waved his hand and it burst into flames before it could touch him.

As Barton notched another one, Loki flew at him, kicking him backwards and snatching the bow out of his hands. Loki looked towards the Tessaract and saw the sceptre sticking out of it. His eyes met Barton's and narrowed angrily. He looked up to see the portal closing quickly. Just before the space above, vanished from sight, he saw a small black figure fall through in time. Stark's body no doubt.

Loki had just enough time to clone himself and move as Barton threw himself at him. The two men became locked in a hand to hand combat fight as Loki tossed the bow over the side of the building and the sceptre lay in the Tessaract. Erik could only watch on as the two fought dangerously close to the edge at times and at others, pinning the other to the floor. Several minutes went by as they fought and though Barton was strong, Loki was stronger. He soon had Barton bent backwards over the side of the roof as Loki sneered over him.

"Would you like to join Agent Romanoff?" he sneered. "I'm sure she'd _love _to see you."

Loki never got to carry out his threat as suddenly a figure in a red cape flew out of nowhere at him, sending him crashing down onto the balcony of Stark Tower. Loki rolled over and over in the pile of glass, pain filling every part of his body. He looked up to see Thor rising to his feet. Before Loki could react, Thor threw his hammer, sending it to land on Loki, holding him down. Try as he might, Loki couldn't summon the magic or the strength to lift it.

"Once again, brother, you're trapped beneath the weight of the wrongs you have done," Thor growled as he marched past him into the apartment. He walked up to the bar and picked up, what looked like a silver bracelet. He glanced back at Loki. "Where is Catherine?" he asked. However he needn't have bothered as her voice soon filled the apartment.

"Loki?" she called. "What's going on?"

Thor whirled round and headed off down the hall leaving a frustrated Loki screaming at him to leave Catherine be.

XMARVELX

Catherine's eyes widened when Thor entered the bedroom. She tried to push herself backwards but she was still too weak and had no place to go. She looked up at Thor warily. He just sighed at her.

"Look at what you've become part of," he told her. "All this death and destruction is down to you and Loki," he said sadly. "It could have been avoided."

"Yes it could," she said. "A long time ago. Have you found Agent Romanoff's body yet?" she asked coldly. She watched Thor's face widen in pain.

"She's dead?" he asked.

"Yes, I killed her. Call it revenge for what she did to me," Catherine shrugged.

Thor stared at her in disbelief. "So you actually killed someone in cold blood. There's a difference between doing that and killing someone in battle. Maybe you could have been excused those people on the ship… don't think I didn't follow the trail of blood you left with that sceptre…. But to kill someone just to end their life… I wanted to believe you could be saved, Catherine. Now I'm not so sure," he told her sadly. "This all ends now. You and Loki have lost."

"What are you going to do?" Catherine sneered. "Kill us."

"No," growled Thor. "I'm not like you. You and Loki will face Asgardian justice."

XMARVELX

It didn't take long for the remaining Avengers to make their way to Stark Tower. Thor handed Stark the bracelet which he then used to set himself up in another suit albeit muttering about an older model and some curse words at Loki for ruining his chances of perfecting the mark 7 suit. Meanwhile Barton and Erik had been brought down with the Tessaract and the sceptre. Captain America had a hand on Barton's shoulder having heard about Natasha. Loki was still trapped and straining under the hammer, fighting to get up.

As Tony finished putting the suit on, he turned to Thor. "Sorry about this; I know he's your brother but he's not going to be able to be taken back to your people if he's still fit enough to fight."

"Make her watch," spat Barton. "She was the one who killed Natasha, make her watch as her boyfriend is pummelled."

Thor gave Barton a pained look but he couldn't argue with him. He left the room and returned several minutes later with a wincing Catherine in his arms. He set her on the ground and kept an arm locked around her waist. She looked over at Loki in shock as Stark began to approach him.

Banner was returned to his usual self with some clothes that were far too big for him but at least kept him covered. He was a bit skinnier than Stark but grateful for the clothes regardless even if he had had the misfortune of changing back stark naked in the elevator and thus making the others uncomfortable. He was watching the scene in confusion.

"I beat the crap out of Loki, how does he have the energy?" he asked in confusion. "And what happened to her?" he gestured to Catherine who shot him a look.

"I was the Loki you beat up," she said glaring.

Barton turned to her in dark amusement. "Oh so it was you I shot off the cruiser. That makes me feel a little better, you evil bitch," he snarled. "What the hell did Natasha do to you?"

Catherine sneered back at him. "Tortured me for information to get at Loki. So I owed her a favour. You should be grateful I ended up giving her such a quick death. If I hadn't she would have died anyway with the poison I pumped into her. Don't pretend your girlfriend was a saint. You told us everything. She was an assassin long before you met her."

Barton made to lunge for Catherine but Steve held him back. Barton was glowering. "You twisted cow, you'll pay for what you did to Natasha. I'll guarantee it."

"No," said Thor. "Catherine and Loki will get their comeuppance in Asgard," he told him firmly. "Take comfort in that," he said. "She will not go unpunished for Natasha's death."

Banner shook his head slightly at Catherine. "I never thought I'd feel good about hitting a woman." She ignored him and turned her attention back to Stark who was standing over Loki, stone faced.

"Thor," he was saying. "Summon the hammer." Thor raised his hand obediently and summoned it.

The moment the hammer left Loki's chest, he flew at Stark viciously. Stark countered the attack enough to stop himself crashing into the wall. He threw punches at Loki, surprisingly nimble in the suit but Loki dodged them, ducking and diving around them, laughing kind of maniacally.

Stark reached out to grab Loki but suddenly there were seven Loki's in the room. For a moment Stark just looked at them all as Loki began to laugh.

"Make your move, Iron Man," he sneered.

Stark smirked behind his mask. "I think I will, Reindeer Games," he said and turned, firing a blast at the Loki nearest his right side. He was rewarded by the other Loki's disappearing as the one he shot, flew across the room with a grunt. Stark flew over to him and picked him up by the throat.

"I think you should learn some manners. It's not good etiquette to try and conquer a world you hardly know…" he said before slamming Loki into the wall face first. The impact shook the wall.

Stark pulled Loki back. "Especially when you so easily underestimate those who are willing to fight for it…" He slammed him into the wall again and again; with such violence that Loki's face began to redden more and more with blood and bruises before Stark pulled him back again, lifted him into the air until they were both hovering above the floor and pounding him into the ground and the broken glass. Loki hit the floor battered and bruised.

"Loki!" Catherine screamed.

"Enough!" Thor called. "That is enough for now. They both need to be put in restraints. The time for violence is over!" he said in a thunderous voice.

Loki looked up from the floor and for a moment, his eyes met Catherine's.

_We lost_


	37. Epilogue

**Lost Souls**

_Epilogue_

Catherine and Loki stood in the middle of Central Park in restraints. If there was any sort of comfort to be drawn from this experience, it was that their restraints were linked together by a second chain. They stood quietly side by side as the Avengers spoke around them. Catherine looked up at Loki, her eyes shining with tears as she saw the metal muzzle they'd clamped over his mouth. It pained her to see him so restricted and gagged. She wondered why she hadn't been gagged either but then she remembered that Loki's other title was God of Lies so that must be it. Or perhaps maybe they didn't consider her that much of a threat.

She couldn't believe their plans had been crushed so quickly. She had been so sure of Loki's plans but maybe the humans had just had a card up their sleeve. Anyway it was over now and there was nothing they could do about it. They were finally returning home to Asgard together but it was in chains and facing a no doubt lengthy jail term. They'd be separated for years again and for the first time since she'd arrived on Midgard, Catherine was beginning to regret encouraging Loki to take over the planet. They'd be apart for much longer than two years and it was self inflicted.

Catherine didn't have many regrets over things she'd done on Earth; the deaths of Agent Romanoff and the others she'd killed like the men on the helicarrier or the woman in the mansion, they weren't amongst them. She'd done what needed to be done. But she regretted not talking Loki into coming back with her. There would be no mercy for them where they were going.

Catherine looked up and caught the eye of Barton who was flaring fiercely at her. She felt a slight lump in her throat as she found herself missing the possessed, loyal Barton who had helped her train her physical abilities up whilst Loki had been busy. Now he hated her because of who he had chosen to love. She glanced away from him, uncomfortable with his gaze.

Her eyes then fell on Thor who was receiving the Tessaract encased in a glass container with golden handles. He fastened it and patted Erik Selveig on the back. Catherine briefly met Erik's eyes and felt a little ashamed when he turned away. She found herself suddenly confronted with mixed feelings over her the impact of her actions. She felt a surprising amount of guilt for the pain on Barton's face and shame when Erik completely ignored her. They may have been possessed but once upon a time, they had been loyal to her, friendly even.

Thor turned to face her and Loki and his face was stern but his eyes were sad. Catherine swallowed uncomfortably. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. What had once been a kind of shared pain between her and Thor was now replaced with the disgust he felt at her and Loki's actions. Catherine turned away from Thor and placed a hand on Loki's desperate for someone who didn't hate her. She looked up into his face and saw that he was watching her sadly. To her relief, he took her hand and squeezed it.

Thor held out the Tessaract container to the pair of them. Catherine watched Loki put his other hand on the handle and she brought her other hand onto it too, looking up at Thor steadily. She glanced around at the other Avengers as Thor twisted his handle. A blue light lit up all around them, transporting them away from Midgard. Catherine watched as the scene around them disappeared and was replaced with blinding lights of different colours.

They were going home to Asgard.

**Author's Note: **WOOT! Finally finished this story! It's not finished yet but I feel like Catherine and Loki have been on quite an adventure together. I hope you've enjoyed it and I shall now start writing on the sequels. That's right, plural. The next stage in the story will be a one shot and then there'll be another full length one. Keep your eyes peeled peoples. Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you thought of the end!


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